How ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Gets Immersive Action Right

This shot breakdown and a few words from ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ director Christopher McQuarrie reveal what good action is all about.

Action-heavy tentpole movies rule cinema screens more now than ever. To say that mainstream entertainment feels oversaturated with violence — stylized or otherwise — feels like an understatement at this point. Any movie with a sizeable budget could potentially be the next noisy, empty Bayhem-filled extravaganza, and that’s bad.

Whether we’re watching a superhero flick, or a big-budget spy vehicle, or even smaller offerings like John Wick and Atomic Blonde, these films must present audiences with some level of investment that makes their action scenes worthwhile. Usually, this comes in the form of plot and character development. That feels like a no-brainer. Yet, things are a little different in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

The first five installments of Mission: Impossible may play out like an anthology centering on Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt and several rotating cast members. However, the man and the myth that is Cruise’s celebrity have clearly become so intertwined that this alone is enough to drag people into theaters.

The Tom Cruise renaissance effect is all too real, and audiences just fancy witnessing the actor’s indefatigable thrill-seeking in action. Cruise’s uncanny ability to dominate the screen in itself raises the stakes of any Mission: Impossible story at this point. What crazy stunt will he be up to next? Will he survive it, despite being over 50? That’s how you know he’s a movie star. For years, people have only cared about his well-being and supposed fearlessness more so than his character’s.

However, Mission: Impossible – Fallout actually breaks all the rules of its own franchise. In the film, there is legitimate dramatic tension that feels as visceral and authentic as its jaw-dropping action sequences. Fallout successfully finds the sweet spot between story and spectacle, and this is extremely refreshing for the series.

On the technical side, Studio Binder’s succinct shot breakdown comes in handy in explaining – using a clip from Fallout – how the Mission: Impossible keeps its action hair-raising and engaging. Watch it below.

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