With the eighth and final Mission: Impossible film – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – still showing at Cineworld Jersey, TOM OGG details why the M:I movies represent the greatest film franchise of the 21st century
THE best film of 2023? There were certainly a few contenders but, in terms of pure old-school thrills and spills, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One proved pretty hard to beat, much as Top Gun: Maverick had ruled the roost the previous year.
Slightly disappointing box-office aside (we apparently now live in a world where an international gross of $566 million is deemed “underwhelming”), the film was an unqualified success: action-packed, exciting, funny, with none of the trappings of modern-day big-budget movies (minimal use of CGI, no off-putting political messaging) and with plenty of death-defying stunt work courtesy of Mr Tom Cruise, who is easily the greatest living movie star in the world (Eastwood, Nicholson and Caine have basically retired now, and Ford, Pacino and De Niro have blotted their copybook in recent years, the latter especially). Not bad for a film that was the seventh instalment in a decades-old Hollywood franchise.
And now the follow-up to Dead Reckoning: Part One has been released. Titled Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the film – which is currently showing at Cineworld Jersey (M:I films have to be seen on the big-screen) – is reported to be the final entry in the series and has been met with rave reviews from critics across the globe.
To celebrate its release, here is my mini-review of each film in the M:I franchise, in order of release, all of which are available for free on Amazon Prime.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
A classic 1990s action-thriller. Unlike the rest of the series, the first Mission: Impossible is more thriller than action movie, with director Brian De Palma at his Hitchcock-mimicking best, whether killing off a bunch of big-name stars within the opening 20 minutes or tossing in twisty-turny plot developments at every available opportunity.
A few of the special effects in the Channel Tunnel-set finale are a bit ropey, but the scene in which Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and co break into the CIA headquarters remains a series highlight. And, of course, the mighty Jon Voight is a living legend.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
The weakest film of the franchise by far, Mission: Impossible 2 is director John Woo at his worst (and I’d argue that even at his best he is massively overrated).
There are a few good stunts here and there, and obviously the opening scene with Cruise climbing Dead Horse Point is fairly breathtaking, but mostly the action scenes – which should, apparently, be John Woo’s strong point – are laughable, with too much slow-motion and naff symbolism (the white doves). And the non-action scenes are even worse. Cruise plays Hunt all wrong in this one – he’s suddenly a smarmy smirking a***hole – while the never-ending slo-mo close-ups of Cruise and love interest Thandie Newton looking longingly at one another are unintentionally comic and, ultimately, rather exhausting (Woo clearly has a major crush on Newton but if, like me, you don’t share his infatuation then the endless shots of her smiling seductively into camera soon grow tiresome in the extreme).
In short, skip this one.
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
I’m not generally a big fan of director JJ Abrams (he has made a career out of helming inferior clones of classic films by more talented directors) but Mission: Impossible III is an exception to the rule and a major return to form for the series.
After the Woo misstep, Cruise has rediscovered his mojo here and gives a truly excellent performance as Hunt, while the late Philip Seymour Hoffman is genuinely menacing as Owen Davian – the best villain of the entire series, in fact. The scene in which Davian calmly and coolly threatens the life of Hunt’s loved ones while being dangled out of a moving airplane is a masterclass in understated screen villainy. What an amazing actor Hoffman was.
My only gripe is that the whole film has that colour-saturated bleached look that was inexplicably popular in the noughties but thankfully soon went out of fashion.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
One of the very best films in the series, Ghost Protocol is filled with one edge-of-your-seat action sequence after another, not least the scene in which Hunt climbs the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. That’s the tallest building on the planet, folks, and Cruise – who, naturally, performed all of the stunt work himself – just dangles about on the side of it with seemingly no more fear than if he were scaling a small semi-detached bungalow in Rhyl. The man is a lunatic, obviously, but in the best way possible.
Elsewhere, the final-act twist is so effective that it left me surprised and moved even on a repeat second viewing (there is a lot more heart in this franchise than it is generally given credit for). Admittedly, I do have a hard time believing that a nerdy wet blanket like Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn would be allowed to go on life-or-death IMF missions with Hunt and his kick-ass team, but he’s such a fun character that I’m happy to suspend disbelief.
In all, one of the most effortlessly entertaining action movies of recent years. Watching the film, you can tell director Brad Bird is a Pixar man.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One (2023)
Unlike the previous films (which alternated directors), the final three Mission: Impossible films to date all share the same director – Christopher McQuarrie – and, as a result, they feel almost like their own standalone trilogy. And what a damn good trilogy it is.
Sure, there are perhaps a few too many scenes of clunky exposition, but everything else is done so consistently well that it really doesn’t matter. And hats off to Jersey’s very own Henry Cavill, who plays shady CIA hardman August Walker in the thrilling Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The actor more than holds his own opposite Cruise, especially during an unforgettable fight scene in the men’s bogs.
Christopher McQuarrie has also helmed the eighth and final film, which is released in cinemas this week. One to be watched on the big screen.
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