Some people have compared "M:I - Fallout" to "Fury Road." It's just a relentless barrage of practical effect thrills that barely has any exposition and backstory. Its goal was to grab your attention and not let go of it. Whereas "M:I - Rogue Nation" was a more elegant, and refined spy movie that had the best action sequences of the series.
With all that being said, I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that maybe, just maybe, director Christopher McQuarrie has made the two best Mission: Impossible movies with 2015's "Rogue Nation" and this summer's "Fallout." Yes, Brad Bird's "Ghost Protocol" has been, up until today, the unofficial favorite, but I now believe that what McQuarrie and Cruise have done to elevate action to sheer art with these last two installments is nothing short of groundbreaking for the major studio blockbuster's future. I presume more studios will now be trying to one-up McQuarrie's M:I films by using more practical effects because, quite frankly, audiences have shown that they want their action to be delivered with the kind of realism CGI cannot replicate.
With all that being said, McQuarrie's statements about not ever wanting to make another "Mission: Impossible" movie come with a certain boastful attitude.
It's probably a dreadful thought for the 50 year-old director to even fathom going through another physically-demanding production. After all, the M:I films have garnered the reputation around the industry as the most arduous of shoots, which is why McQuarie is the only director of the franchise to have directed two films.
It's also a question of quitting at the top for McQuarrie, He thinks that expectations for the seventh outing would be too high to be met, or that the pressure is just not worth it. Basically, he doesn't seem to want to push his artistic chops any further with this franchise. He's set a limit and he's done.
The McQuarrie quote [Empire Podcast]:
“Eddie Hamilton [Editor on ‘Fallout], every day in the editing room was like, ‘Come on, man, it’s obviously a trilogy you’re coming back, you have to finish it, you didn’t kill Lane,’ and I was like, ‘It’s somebody else’s problem.’ Tom [Cruise] has asked, the studio has asked, and I was like, ‘You know maybe I’ve got an idea for…’ and then the reviews came out and I was like, ‘Get outta here. Just stop.’ I felt so bad for the director of ‘Mission 6’ and I feel even worse of the director of 7. I’d rather have leprosy than be in the position of the person having to confront the pressure of the hyperbole of this movie on their first day of shooting the film. It’s too much to confront. I’d need a long nap before I could contemplate it.”