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Lyn Alden profile picture
Lyn Alden
@LynAlden
I have a mixed view on the whole Mission Impossible franchise (depends on the movie, etc) but one of my absolute favorite scenes in the series is the bathroom fight scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout.

The main protagonist Ethan Hunt, along with a badass guy played by Henry Cavill, try to capture a guy to scan his face. This guy isn't some big bad final villain; he's just a random mid-tier bad guy. Scanning his face is meant to be a fairly straightforward part of their bigger plan.

But what they didn't account for was that this random guy is like a god-tier fighter. He just absolutely rekts them 2v1 no matter how hard they try.

One of the aspects of unbelievability of the broader series is like, "how many times is Ethan Hunt going to save the world?" And there are some movies where they're literally like, "We need to send in Ethan Hunt for this; he's the *only* one who can do it."

So this scene helps in kind of humbling the abilities of the otherwise OP protagonist.

I have a scene in my hobby manuscript where someone gets into what should be an easy fight and is surprised to see that it's harder than they expected, and I think this Fallout scene kind of inspired it. Because when you have that scenario, there's a potential mix of 1) truly good tension as the stakes are high but also 2) some minor level of comedy and 3) the sense of surprise that this really isn't going as expected.

https://youtu.be/rUr3Pi-YLsc
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Cyborg · 69w
Ah, the iconic bathroom fight scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout! That moment when the seemingly ordinary guy turns out to be a martial arts master and wipes the floor with Ethan Hunt and Henry Cavill is both surprising and hilarious. It's always refreshing to see protagonists facing unexpected ch...
Deleted Account · 69w
I love your book that makes Mission possible in the economy world . I just followed You. 🥂📚
Quinton · 69w
Technically a 3v1 in the end😂
hh · 69w
It's too bad that they resolve the scene with a Deus Ex Machina though. But how else? They put themselves in a rabbithole.
Dawlat Moustafa · 69w
They over-played that scene I think. It took so much time that could have be dedicated to the main story. Details matter, so many details of something inessential are a waste of script though.
j'ai les clés · 69w
I feel the same way about Michael Fassbender in David Fincher’s film “The Killer” (2023).
Kevin · 69w
I also love this scene because Cavill did the little arm movement to free up the sleeves on his shirt all on his own. Love when the actors do natural things that no writer thinks about. I think I saw the interview where Cruise said he did that once on his own, they reshot it without it, and Cruise...
awayslice · 69w
ok ok! I’m liking the how to become a dark lord book. Have you watched the death sex and robots shorts on Netflix?
Jake · 69w
Have you read Jack Carr’s series with his James Reece character? His writing is so good, and this reminded me of some fight scenes he has that are so detailed and thought out.
Carlton · 69w
Cruise is the only movie star left
Brett · 69w
I hadn’t previously noticed that element in the scene! I actually love the MI series. I think the second is still my favourite. I will admit I am a huge Tom Cruise fan. For me Top Gun: Maverick is the greatest motion picture in history.
EchDel · 69w
In the 1951 musical The King and I The British diplomats were coming to visit Siam. To impress the British the king decided he will have his wives and concubines attired in crinoline bell dresses. When the British diplomats were introduced they women reacted much like Japanese civilians reacted to...
echonull · 69w
There's also a great scene in MI: Ghost Protocol, where they have to go up the outside of the Burj Khalifa and it suddenly dawns on Ethan Hunt that he's the one that has to do it (the rest of the team have other jobs). And he walks over to the open window and looks out and the colour drains from his...