Heading into the upcoming film, here’s a look back at the the Mission: Impossible movie franchise.
The Mission Begins:
Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) the most loyal and responsible agent in the history of the IMF agency (originally played by Peter Graves) goes crazy for a young wife (Emmanuelle Beart) and decides to kill off all his IMF team, frame Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), and sell the names of every US undercover agent on the black market. Hunt teams up with two other disavowed agents: mercenary Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) and computer wiz Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames). Highlights include a break-in of Langley and the early death of an uncredited Emilio Estavez in a quite brutal manner. Lowlights involve an incomprehensible plot that took the focus completely off the team missions of the show by making one of them the bad guy, one the good guy, and killing the rest off in the first ten minutes. Read the full review.
The Mission Continues:
IMF agents Ethan Hunt and Luther Stickell go after rogue agent (Dougray Scott) who has stolen a genetically engineered disease called Chimera. They enlist the of his former girlfriend Nyah, a professional thief (Thandie Newton). John Woo replaces Brian De Palma behind the camera (though you can tell without me telling you). The action scenes are crisper (even if you do get Woo’s famous slomo scenes and doves) and the story has been scaled back into a much easier to follow plot rather than the many twists and turns of the first film. Highlights include the break-in the the building where Chimera is housed and the fire-fight afterwards, the first meeting between Ethan and Nyah. Lowlights include the over-the-top Woo-ish bike chase and fight on the beach and Scott eating up every inch of scenery he can sink his teeth into. Better than the first,. Again it’s the Ethan Hunt show rather than a true Mission Impossible script but the actions scenes are better and the script makes since.
The Mission Gets Personal:
The standout of the third film is our villain Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who Hunt and his team (Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Maggie Q) take down after learning Davian is responsible for the death of Ethan’s star trainee (Keri Russell) who the IMF team fails to save. Davian’s escape from custody allows him to target Ethan through his girlfriend () whose ignorance about what Ethan does for living is about to be brutally rectified. It’s not the best of the franchise, but J.J. Abrams does give us some great moments throughout. Highlights include both the failed rescue attempt and the takedown of Davian along with Ethan’s literal race for his life to close out the film. Those looking to nitpick can point to the film not being as cinematic as the preceding films nor those to follow which start raising the stakes further in terms of big stunts for Hunt. Read the full review.
The Team Grows:
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is where things really pick up but it does also stick with the template Abrams doesn’t get enough credit for in the previous film which is further expanded on by director Brad Bird. We get the return of Simon Pegg and the film keeps a female member swapping out Maggie Q for Paula Patton (in sadly her only appearance in the franchise). With M:I in a bit of transition, we get the introduction of Jeremy Renner teasing some changes to the franchise that don’t ultimately come to pass. The plot takes the team around the world after a Russian terrorist known only as Cobalt (Michael Nyqvist). Highlights include Ethan scaling the tallest building in the world, the team continually needing to work around snags to their plans, and the battle of wills between Ethan and Benji during the prison escape sequence. There’s not a lot of issues to nitpick with the film although the ending is a bit goofy and isn’t as climactic as some of the other entries, and we sadly don’t get Ving Rhames this time around. Read the full review.
A Larger Story Begins:
Director Christopher McQuarrie enters the franchise with a hell of a first effort with Ethan Hunt hunting an evil version of the IMF out there working for the highest bidder that even his own government doesn’t believe exists (which includes the first appearance by Alec Baldwin). Pegg and Rhames both return but the real standout here is double-agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) whose ultimate loyalty it takes Ethan quite a while to work out. I think Sean Harris works well as the villain here, but choosing to bring him back is one of many issues I have with the next film in the franchise. Highlights include Ethan hanging from a plane in the opening sequence, everything in the opera house, Baldwin’s (incredibly over-the-top) explanation of who Ethan Hunt is, and the final trap laid by the IMF to catch the bad guy. While cool, you could argue the underwater break-in strains credibility (which is saying something for this franchise) although I do think it still works. Read the full review.
A Bit of Fallout:
Taking a page of of the Daniel Craig Bond films, Mission: Impossible – Fallout chooses to continue threads from the previous film. While this allows for the return of Ferguson it also sadly brings back Harris a bit unnecessarily and weaves back in Monaghan who I felt the franchise had already successfully closed the book on in Ghost Protocol’s epilogue. My real issue with the film, however, is Henry Cavill walking around with “I’m the bad guy” stamped on his head which no one seems to notice (making Ethan look even more foolish for saving his life in a sequence which if it doesn’t happen would end the film in about 20 minutes) and whose motives seem pretty weak compared to other villains of the franchise. The opening scene in which the IMF loses a nuke is actually part of the larger film where Ethan is forced to assume the identity of the mysterious John Lark (who actually looks much more like Henry Cavill). Fallout is a fun film but of all the later Mission: Impossible films its choices bug me most including an ending that is a bit too impossible, even for this franchise. For me, it’s a definite step back from the previous two films. Read the full review.
A Reckoning (Part One):
Moving past The Syndicate storyline, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (which won’t have a Part Two given the name change of the following film) offered a new challenge for Ethan Hunt and his team in an out-of-control Artificial Intelligence and its various operatives who would force Hunt to go to even more extreme methods to keep up. We get Ferguson, Rhames, and Pegg all back here but Hayley Atwell steals the show as a thief in possession of a key the IMF needs. It’s hard to imagine a better addition to the franchise and if Cruise ever wants to step away, or if they simply want to do a spinoff movie, I would gladly watch Atwell lead a team in the near future. Not only does her introduction work to allow the franchise to explain how the IMF recruits but it gives us two strong female characters along with an additional baddie played by Pom Klementieff. For me, Fallout is a misstep, and Dead Reckoning gets the franchise back on track with new challenges. Now it is only half a film, with second half hitting theaters this fall in the now branded Final Reckoning so events don’t get the natural conclusion of the previous entry and its ultimate success may depend on the long delayed Part Two. Read the full review.