Why the Mission Impossible franchise should end despite Fallout’s success

With an opening Box Office result that was the franchise’s best, Mission Impossible: Fallout seems poised to be another feather in Tom Cruise’s hat. Yet despite the success, I couldn’t help but think that I’ve had enough of this franchise and that it needs to end.

The Mission Impossible franchise has been running strong for 22 years now. A remake of a television series, the first film saw a young spy get entangled in a conspiracy theory that saw slick action and intense plot threads that kept audiences on the edge of their seat. The movie helped establish Tom Cruise as an action hero, and the star has become a little infamous for doing his own stunts with these movies.

Mission Impossible: Fallout, the latest entry in this franchise, is an incredibly tense and action-packed adventure that is, as our own John Dotson puts it, pure “blockbuster heaven!” It’s an amazing action movie, but also a surprisingly strong spy thriller. While the story and plot are a little weak and more along the lines of a wild goose chase, Fallout more than makes up for it with its strong performances, action sequences, and intensity.

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So why it is that I want this enjoyable franchise to end? Simply because it needs to by this point.

With 6 movies under its belt, Mission Impossible can never be accused of being a cash grab model of churning out the easiest sequels in the fastest amount of time with superficial changes to bring in more audiences. With anywhere between 3 to 5 years between each film, the makers of the franchise have taken their time to craft stories deserving enough of sequels. And it’s been worth it. So far.

However, the storyline of Fallout seems like a natural end to this franchise.

Ethan Hunt

The Mission Impossible franchise has always had a very loose thread of continuity from sequel to sequel. While they’ve rarely betrayed their own canon, only a sliver of story from the previous film makes it into the next. Enough to feel like a sequel, but not too much to be restricted by the events of the previous film.

Note: Mission Impossible: Fallout, and general franchise Spoilers ahead!

Fallout closes a particular story arc of Ethan Hunt that was initially established by J. J. Abrams in the third movie of the franchise. His relationship and subsequent marriage to Michelle Monaghan’s Julia was all but erased after the third film, with only a few throwaway lines here and there.

Fallout, however, brings closure to that part of Ethan Hunt’s life, as he gets to meet Julia, see her doing well and being happy with someone else. This also allows him to move on himself, by finding love (or at least a mutual attraction) in Rebecca Ferguson’s character, Ilsa Faust; as was strongly implied by the almost cheesy and too happy of an ending of Fallout.

This only makes sense because the movies continuously refer to Hunt’s career as a spy, while never acknowledging or even implying a sense of an end-game for the character. The ending of Fallout gives us a lot of emotional closure for Hunt.

One of the plot points of Fallout is about Hunt being emotional and choosing to save a friend at the risk of millions. This could show a shift in Hunt’s priorities and willingness to stop jumping off of buildings, but instead pprotectthe ones he loves. It would be a disservice for the character if the slate is wiped clean and he’s seen flying solo again in the next movie, running around beating up bad guys as if its business as usual, with no emotional arc to anchor him as a well-rounded character.

Tom Cruise

Not to mention the fact that, while Tom Cruise is an incredible action star despite his age, it’s hard to deny the fact that he will not be physically capable of doing this kind of action forever.
There are moments of Fallout when Cruise looks way too old to be playing the swashbuckling sexy spy in a suit.

While his capabilities are not in question, he’s had many injuries during the franchise, not to mention a major injury to his ankle during the production of Fallout as well. And with how Cruise keeps amping up the intensity of his stunts with every film, the off-screen action seems a lot more harrowing to audiences than anything happening on-screen. And we’d hate to see anything happen to such a talented actor, simply because he felt he needs to top himself with every movie. For our sake.

Not Enough Connections

While Mission Impossible II was more of an isolated love story, the franchise hasn’t focused much on feelings or the closeness of its recurring characters since the third film. The action and spy elements of the genre overwhelm everything else. Which is great for what the movies are.

But scenes in Fallout remind us, very emotionally, that Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickwell character and that of Cruise’s have known each other for 20+ years, and have lived through countless live and death situations.

However, their on-screen interaction and relationship doesn’t seem to portray the closeness that two people with those experiences should be like. Rhames’ huge emotional moment in Fallout is to point out that very same closeness, as he tearfully remind us that they’ve been through thick and thin. But it only makes me wonder why that’s not referenced, implied, depicted or even insinuated in any other elements of the entire franchise.

For audiences coming in from the cold, Luther and Ethan are just two guys on the same spy team, not the only recurring relationship that the hero has maintained in the 22 years of the franchise. And if Mission Impossible isn’t going to be about things like these relationships between the characters, it’s better to end the franchise now, than have it become a string of weak stories constructed around insane stunts with only one-note characters repeating the same gimmick with new variations.

Do you think the Mission Impossible franchise should continue? Let us know in the comments below.