On a Mission to please

Cue the familiar theme as the world prepares itself for Fallout, the sixth instalment of the Mission: Impossible action thriller franchise that has been billed as its most epic.

Opening here on July 26, it sees Tom Cruise reprising his iconic role as acrobatic super-agent Ethan Hunt, who races against time alongside his team to recover stolen plutonium after a mission goes wrong.

Henry Cavill, best known for playing the latest iteration of Superman, joins the villains gallery this time round, lending the movie a sinister edge.

As the hype ratchets up for Fallout, here is a look back at some of the most memorable moments of Hunt's two previous outings - Ghost Protocol (2011) and Rogue Nation (2015) - and what you can expect from the upcoming sequel.

GLOBAL LANDMARKS

In Ghost Protocol, Cruise memorably clambered up the glass facade of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world, to foil a nuclear terrorism conspiracy.

Earlier in the same film, Moscow's Red Square and Kremlin were flattened by explosives, putting the world on the brink of nuclear war.

As for Rogue Nation, the Tower of London serves as the starting point for a climactic final confrontation that sees the team leaving a trail of destruction throughout the city.

In Fallout, he races a motorbike helmet-less through oncoming traffic round Paris' Arc de Triomphe and pilots a helicopter though mountain ravines in Kashmir.

HALO EFFECT

In a sensational behind-the-scenes video released last month, Fallout's production team revealed that Cruise would be the first actor filmed performing a halo (high altitude - low opening) parachute jump.

Pioneered by airborne commandos for entering enemy territory incognito, such skydiving is fraught with risk, for they demand high levels of fitness due to the risk of oxygen deprivation at high altitudes.

The error margin is also smaller compared with conventional jumps as the parachute has to be opened closer to the ground.

Cruise jumped from a plane at a dizzying height of 7.62km, falling at more than 350kmh and opening his parachute less than 610m from the ground.

He reportedly said it took 106 jumps to get the three takes required, filmed partly by a cameraman falling backward out of the plane.

NO CRITICAL FALLOUT

Despite being bound to press embargoes, movie critics lucky enough to catch sneak previews last Wednesday have dropped teasing raves about Fallout on social media.

Mike Ryan of US entertainment website Uproxx even compared it to the 2012 Bond flick Skyfall for its mature, gritty portrayal of a cornered agent beset by personal demons and ruthless pursuers.

Others compared it to 2008's The Dark Knight for similar reasons, placing Fallout in welcome company among some of the most critically acclaimed mainstream blockbusters of the last decade.

IndieWire reviewer Zack Sharf even crowned it as "one of the best action movies ever made" in his full review.

Or as the Hollywood Reporter put it: "The action here represents the mainstream cinema's version of extreme sports, and these guys have staked their claim at the summit."

DIRECT SEQUEL

Unlike the standalone nature of its predecessors, Fallout picks up directly from Rogue Nation.

It marks the first time the same director is helming more than one film in the series, with Rogue Nation's Christopher McQuarrie returning.

Familiar faces from the previous film also include Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris.

Early reviews have suggested that audiences would need to watch Rogue Nation to fully understand the developments in Fallout.

RISKY STUNTS

Time and again, Cruise has defied his age to perform increasingly ambitious stunts himself.

But gravity sometimes contrives to foil the best-laid plans for the fit 56-year-old, who broke his ankle during Fallout.

While jumping between London rooftops, he slammed his ankle into the side of a building at an awkward angle.

Despite his pain, he calmly pulled himself up from the edge of the building and hobbled past the camera to finish the shot - and was back on set within six weeks.

---

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE EXCLUSIVE BLOCKBUSTER MARATHON

As part of The New Paper's 30th anniversary celebrations, readers can enjoy not one, but three times the action with our Mission: Impossible Exclusive Blockbuster Marathon, comprising Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation and Fallout.

Fifty winners will walk away with a pair of tickets to this special screening on July 28 at Cathay - Parkway Parade.

To take part, go to www.tnp.sg/MI6. The contest ends on July 23.