MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1996)
Tagline: Only the mission matters
(Action, Spies, Plot Twists) [PG-13]
Well, for a little over two years we have been spotting serious blowback in IMF operations, we have a penetration. The other day, we decoded a message on the Internet from a Czech we know as Max.
Every great series has to start somewhere…and this one starts off with Jim Phelps taking a team to Prague to prevent a list of very specific people from getting stolen. The mission ends up failing badly and the theft takes place. Ethan Hunt is apparently the only member of Phelps's team who survives a series of assassinations as it becomes apparent, the thieves saw them coming. The most obvious “mole” is Ethan and to clear his name with the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), he must engage in unconventional means.
The subject came up online the other day about if there was another series of films out there that had a bit of a 007 feel. Yes, you can point to JACK REACHER, KINGSMAN, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, etc, but MISSION IMPOSSIBLE for me has been the best and has the highest quality. I will say that the KINGSMAN films are still probably the most “over the top”. It should also be noted that this was the last time a major studio put out a release on Betamax. The Betamax format was first released in Japan in 1975.
Known for some crazy stunts, just the previews on this made me want to see it. I was slightly curious based on the fact that it’s a movie based on a classic TV show. Love or hate Tom Cruise, the dude is hardly ever in a bad action movie, if ever. He does almost all of his own stunts and even learned sleight-of-hand tricks for the movie when he starts messing with Krieger concerning the real or fake disc with the all-important names on it. He also does the stunt where you see him in the vault. I don’t want to give away too many of the plot points here, but even paying very close attention to this thing, I still missed a lot of the tells when they start unveiling how deep this espionage goes.
Part of why I wanted to do the reviews for this series is because I’ve never gotten around to it in the past and there are a couple of new installments on the way in 2023 and beyond. As far as pacing this thing couldn’t get any better. There are very few lulls to worry about and all of the dialog actually only adds to the story instead of feeling like filler. Interestingly the movie's main protagonist doesn’t fire a gun the entire movie.
Acting wise it goes without saying that Tom Cruise (TOP GUN: MAVERICK) plays Ethan Hunt. He kills this role, but I will say that it doesn’t stretch him in the acting department as much as it does the "physical" department. Ethan is a bit James Bond-like when it comes to chicks at least in this one. Seems like the only time he gets hit on it, he falls for the girl. Maybe it doesn’t happen that often for special agents? Emmanuelle Béart is outstanding as Claire. She can kick your teeth in but is also more vulnerable than most female spies we see in movies. Outside of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, I am not familiar with much of her other work. Jon Voight (NATIONAL TREASURE) crushes is at Jim Phelps. I pretty much love whenever he shows up. Henry Czerny (CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER) is convincing as Kittridge one of the leaders of IMF. We also get the incomparable Ving Rhames as Luther, a master computer hacker. There are also a few surprise cast members in this, but I will leave that for you to check out.
I am going to go out on a limb and say this movie is definitely better than at least the last 007 movie I saw. Yes, we do get a few scenes that are very much “nope, that can’t happen”, but I never mind that when it comes to action movies. One thing that is pretty funny is seeing some of this tech that seemed so “wow that’s the future” back then look so dated now.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE gets a solid 6 out of 7. It’s very close to perfect in execution and has a lot to offer in comparison to other films of its type.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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