Henry Cavill breaks off his “arm reload” in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The sixth film in the Mission Impossible franchise, precipitation brought back franchise star Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt and introduced Cavill’s character, CIA agent August Walker. Walker was eventually revealed as the film’s real villain before dying in a horrific manner. However, he made quite an impression on Mission Impossible fans before his death. Directed by Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie, the film followed the franchise’s tradition of shocking and impressive stunts, but perhaps the most talked about scene was a brutal fight scene featuring Cavill, Cruise and stuntman Liang Yang.
In the now famous bathroom scene, Hunt and Walker are looking for an arms dealer named John Lark. Although Walker was eventually revealed as Lark, early in the film, he and Hunt hunt for a clue that takes them to a Paris nightclub. The pair, hoping to appease their target by using facial scanning technology to take over his identity, put him in a corner in the bathroom, which is extremely well lit and full of mirrors and white walls, making the action easy to follow and captivating. is. so exciting because the characters have nowhere to hide. Both Cavill and Cruise went wild in the barbaric brawl that followed, admitting they were in extreme pain when filming was over.
During a performance the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cavill explained one particular detail in the bathroom fight that would later go viral. In the scene, Walker, Cavill’s character, appears to reload his arms by pumping them before delivering a punch. While that little scene quickly became the talk of the internet because of its funny implications, Cavill says it was the result of pain after filming the same fight for weeks. Check out what the actor had to say below:
“It was basically because we had to — it was a pretty intense fight scene, we actually had it shot for about three weeks at that stage, which is a long time compared to things like The Witcher, we get a day. And everything starts after to get quite sore for a while because it’s a lot of repetitive movements and the tendons in my biceps hurt so I had to warm them up before throwing punches I would literally do that to warm them up, and I did it once , and I was like, ‘Oh god, that probably looked really stupid, I can’t believe I did that.’ And I said ‘oh sorry McQ [director Christopher McQuarrie], I’ll do that again.’ And he’s like, ‘what to do? Okay, whatever, let’s go again.’ And then I did another take without doing it, and he said, ‘why didn’t you do that thing? That was really good.’ And I was like, ‘was that okay?’ And he said, ‘yes! Certainly do.’ And we have done that.”
How Cavill’s Arm Reload Exploded On The Internet
Cavill ‘reloading’ his arms quickly became an internet meme, going down in pop culture history as a funny reference to the riveting battle. The detail adds realism to the fight, as hand-to-hand combat is tough on the joints and limbs, so it makes sense that McQuarrie wanted to include it, despite Cavill feeling it was “looked really stupid.” The public clearly agreed with Cavill’s feeling that the arm pump would stand out in combat, but the real reason for that moment exploding on social media was the sheer reach of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which became the most profitable? Mission Impossible to date. The film also received critical acclaim and brought in a huge audience that was previously indifferent to the franchise, leading to many more eyes on Cavill’s infamous “reload” that caused it to spread further.
Another reason for the popularity of the meme “Henry Cavill Arm Reload” was mainly the success of the fight scene in the bathroom. That one sequence was shot in a whopping four weeks, with McQuarrie working to ensure each character had a fighting style unique to their personalities, with Cavill coming in with blunt force. Since McQuarrie is going to direct both Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part Two, maybe more viral moments will come from those last forays into the franchise. Plus, McQuarrie has teased Cavill’s return in Mission: Impossible 8 despite the death of his character, which is an exciting prospect for fans of his famous Mission: Impossible – Fallout character.
Source: Happily Sad Confused – Henry Cavill Vol. II
Key release dates
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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two
