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Mission Impossible: Fallout
****
Dir: Christopher McQuarrie (12A, 130 mins)
Tom Cruise returns to the solidly entertaining spy franchise 22 years after the first Impossible Mission was rebooted from its 60s TV heritage to the big screen. Cruise once more plays Ethan Hunt, who with his team are dealing with the, yes, fallout from a job gone wrong. Simon Pegg returns as tech geek Benji along with Ving Rhames’ Luther, the only other constant team member since the series’ cinematic inception. Also along for the ride once more are Rebecca Ferguson’s athletic spy Ilsa Faust and the baddie from previous installment Rogue Nation – Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris. Joining the set piece derring-do are a mustachioed Henry Cavill as a vengeful CIA man who gets the job done at whatever cost, and Angela Bassett as his hard-nosed boss. The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby also adds some femme fatale as mysterious operative The White Widow, but as ever this franchise is all about the globetrotting action sequences. For this outing, returning writer/director McQuarrie has added visceral motorcycle chases, gravity-defying helicopter scenes and giddy skydiving all alongside the usual hardcore fisticuffs. Michelle Monaghan, who played Hunt’s wife in Mission’s three and four also returns, adding more jeopardy for Cruise’s beleaguered agent. Well-executed, fun nonsense operating at pure popcorn level, this is no doubt another enjoyable mission. Opens July 26
words Keiron Self