Review: Mission Impossible Is The Beginning Of The Best
- Jul 22, 2018
- 2 min read
In 1996 Tom Cruise teamed up with legendary director Brian De Palma, the man behind Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way, to create a cinematic adaptation of a TV show from the 60s and early 70s. While the film that followed will be forever enjoyed, it is the franchise it formed that will never be forgot.
IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is dispatched to the American embassy in Prague to recover a list containing the names and aliases of every currently active CIA agent when he suddenly finds himself to be the sole survivor of a series of devastating attacks against his team. The heads of his agency believe him to be a traitor, and so Ethan finds himself on the run, desperate to uncover the truth and clear his name.
In a franchise now spanning 22 years, wherein almost every film is a little more different than the last, Mission Impossible stands alone. Despite a slew of directors over the past two decades, De Palma is one of two who have a definitive style. Close ups, low light, centred shots, offset angles, Mission Impossible is nothing if not uncomfortable. The spy genre revolves around watching, and being watched, and nowhere does that feel more apparent than here. Almost every scene is packed with tension and uneasiness, and will keep you guessing from beginning to end.
It doesn’t hurt that it features my personal favourite heist sequence of all time, namely the CIA hack. Cruise, accompanied by master thief Krieger (Jean Reno) and expert hacker Luther (Ving Rhames) must access a secure terminal located at the very centre of CIA headquarters, copy its information, and escape unseen, all while evading various high tech security measures. The tension is at its height here, so thick it’s almost visible. Everything is slow, quiet and methodical, not just because it can be but because the CIA’s security system require it.
Aside from the inevitable datedness of a film from 22 years ago, be it floppy disks, cassette tapes or payphones, Mission Impossible remains a timeless thrill-ride. Cruise is great, the action is enjoyable, and it always feels like everything is 3 degrees from tipping into oblivion. A classic, and not the boring kind.
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