It looks like Cruise has managed the (mission) impossible.
Rather than running out of steam, MIS Fallout is being widely heraded as the best movie yet in the franchise.
The hugely complicated but gripping plot is the first to properly pull together elements from the previous movies, but does the ending mean that the series is wrapping up?
And what exactly did Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa whisper to Michele Monaghan’s Julia?
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie opened earlier this week in the UK and in the US today.
British star Simon Pegg has already addressed the subject of whether Cruise will leave the series for another, younger star to take over.
James Bond may reboot repeatedly but Pegg says Hunt will not. After all, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are making action movies in the seventies and Cruise is still clearly happy to break a few bones in pursuit of the perfect action scene.
But where does the ending of Fallout leave Ethan Hunt and IMF? What does it mean?
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Fans will be pleased that the ending firmly sets up a new era for Hunt and his team – and the IMF.
Hunt has exorcised any lingering regrets about Julia, reunited with his team and incorporatd Ilsa into their line-up, as well as into his own personal life.
Alec Baldwin’s Hunley is dead, leaving the door wide open for a new regime and new missions.
Plus most of the Apostles from the Syndicate are still out there, and Solomon Lane has already escaped once, leaving plenty of room for the world to be plunged into yet more danger.
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As for that mysterious whisper between Ilsa and Julia…
CinemaBlend recently asked Monaghan what was said and received a typically Mission Impossible misdirection.
However, it is clear that the two women were passing the torch, with Julia now happy with her regular life and Ilsa the perfect thrill-seeking partner for Ethan.
Mission Impossible 7 can’t come soon enough.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT IS OUT NOW