Review of Mission: Impossible (1996) by Halfwelshman — 02 Jan 2012

What you get from Mission: Impossible is spectacle. And that's all you should want from an action thriller. It doesn't offer you too much more in terms of drama or performance, but the plotting is tight, and the storytelling involving (and this is a real achievement considering the film went into production without a finished script).

It's just entertainment at the end of the day, and Brian De Palma's stylish direction makes it a very high-end, polished example of entertainment at that. The set-pieces are extremely well handled (particularly the iconic scene where Ethan Hunt hangs from the ceiling of a high-security CIA vault) and Tom Cruise proves he is more than able to handle the stunt work.

Cruise was also one of the main driving-forces behind the film's production, and he's clearly aware what audiences want from an action movie. When judging the cast's performances, there's no-one who particularly stands out - Tom Cruise is serviceable, and Jean Reno plays the same character he plays in every film, though Jon Voight has a decent attempt at reading the mediocre dialogue straight-faced, and at least Vanessa Redgrave appears to be having a lot of fun with her role.

Yes, the screenplay is nothing special, the character development a bit lacking, and the cutting-edge-for-the-90s technology Ethan Hunt's team uses in their escapades looks laughably dated to a modern audience.

Mission: Impossible is good fun to watch, and as long as you don't dwell on the little details, you can get a lot out of this glossy and engaging, yet undeniably silly thriller.