Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Mission accomplished on everything except the story. Fallout’s plot is three missing plutonium cores, a buyer called John Lark, and a parade of people in dim rooms explaining both while Ethan nods. The villain from the last movie is back and gets even less to do. It barely matters. Tom Cruise jumps out of a plane over Paris, rides a motorcycle against traffic around the Arc de Triomphe, and sprints across London rooftops like he left the stove on. Henry Cavill gets a bathroom fight where he reloads his own arms before throwing a punch, the best acting choice of his career. Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa is the coolest person in every room, and Simon Pegg’s Benji keeps panicking in the right key. Christopher McQuarrie stages it all so clearly you always know where everyone is. It holds a 98% from critics, and the 147 minutes fly by. An 8.9 because no action movie of its decade hits harder, plot or no plot. $549 says you start reloading your arms like Cavill before carrying in the groceries.

What works: The stunts are real, huge and staged so clearly that you can follow every punch, jump and crash.

What doesn’t: The plot is a dull pile of plutonium talk and exposition, and the returning villain gets almost nothing to do.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants to see the best practical action of its era on the biggest screen they can find.