Review of Mission: Impossible (1996) by Mitchell B — 15 Aug 2015

Mission Impossible is pretty much the American version of James Bond. In my opinion it's even better as I love Tom Cruise and he's in all of them. Of course the one that started it all is Mission Impossible of 1996. I really enjoyed this film though it surprisingly had a different feel to it than the following sequels. I watched the sequels before this and they all seemed heavier on action while this one had a great deal of downtime to set the mood and atmosphere. It's actually quite a depressing movie tonally for a while. However, it was warranted given the story. Now, I have not seen the original show this is based on so I won't make any comparisons there.

The story is as follows. An agent of the organization IMF named Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on a mission with his team to retrieve a device called the NOC List containing the names and info regarding many, if not all, NOC agents in the field. However the mission goes awry and his entire team is killed (or so he thinks). As it turns out the mission was only a ploy to rat out a mole in their ranks. Because he's the only survivor the higher-ups think Hunt is the mole and he's then on the run. Hunt must then discover the truth behind who killed his team so he can avenge them and clear his name.

The film has everything going for it in my opinion. It has a great cast, great lead character, great side characters like Ving Rhames or Jean Reno, suspense, good drama that isn't forced, good production value, a compelling story (though a clichéd one now), and some good action. Granted some of the effects are a bit dated now. Also the action, while good, is not as exciting as in the sequels. While I still love the film I probably would enjoy it even more if I saw it back when it came out before the sequels.

Many of the plot points in this film have been done many times now so they feel cliché. They probably weren't so cliché when they first came out but now many spy films have employed them. What makes up for it though is the great mood and atmosphere it brings that you don't see much in other spy films at least to this degree. It truly feels like a spy thriller unlike many films that followed or any of the James Bond films which are just basically action fests and wish fulfillment by many people. Not that they aren't enjoyable but they're not really spy films even though they pretend to be.

Overall Mission Impossible is an amazing thrill ride. I can't really find much of anything wrong with the film other than one or two dated effects. The cliché thing is merely a personal matter for me and it handles those clichés very well too.