Mission Impossible: Fallout should be looked at as the template for how action movies are created. This is everything you want in a pure action movie that is wrought with the same suspense, mystery, and comedic tones that you would expect from this top-of-the-line franchise. Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men) reprises his most recognizable character (people, Top Gun came out over 30 years ago…Maverick is great, Ethan Hunt is the identifiable Cruise character…at least for anyone younger than 35). I’ve spent a good part of the last two decades knocking Tom Cruise for his choice in roles, wishing he would return to the types of roles that earned him three Academy Award nominations between 1990-2000. And I honestly, at the time, though he was phoning it in for box office dollars. I understand an action flick here and there. I understand that action is the niche for various A-listers (Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone) but not Tom Cruise. He has more depth than these other actors, and I felt he was repeatedly resorting to variations of the same role (Jack Reacher, Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow). But I was wrong. I’ve watched all of these movies, and while, yes, they are all action movies, he never phones it in. He actually might bring a more consistent intensity to his role than any other actor out there. And this was no exception. Although it is hard for us to see anyone else play Tony Stark/Iron Man than Robert Downey Jr., it would be challenging to see anyone besides Cruise play Ethan Hunt.