Mission: Impossible- Fallout (2018)

Despite having little in the way of authorial vision, five different directors over six movies, the Mission: Impossible franchise has done a remarkably good job of connecting threads between the films, and in Fallout it ties many of these threads into a nice bow. A more or less direct sequel to the previous outing Rouge Nation, as it concerns the same villain (Sean Harris), and is helmed by the same director (Christopher McQuarrie, a Cruise favorite, this is the 5th time he's directed the star). Fallout teams Ethan Hunt what old favorites Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin and Rebecca Ferguson, as well as the addition of Henry Cavill as a CIA agent (no Jeremy Renner in this one, I was a little disappointed by that) to prevent the breakout of Solomon Lane, and the use of three stolen nuclear warheads. There is skydiving, a much better bathroom fight then in The Karate Kid, a boat chase in Paris, a street chase in London, and a helicopter chase in Kashmir, in short set pieces a plenty and they are as well done as you'd expect. Michelle Monaghan even returns as Hunts wife Julia, making the most of the witness protection program. Not my favorite of the series, that would probably be #4 Ghost Protocol, it is still a satisfying enough conclusion for the franchise, if it is in fact a conclusion, because they certainly hedge some at the end. I guess it might just depend on how long Mr. Cruise can subject his aging body to the riggers of this kind of filmmaking, but really what is Tom going to do when he can't make action movies anymore? ***