The stunt work was sensationally spectacular and Tom Cruise did much dauntless derring-do. But some may forget that when the “Mission: Impossible” series first began in 1996, there were heated arguments about the franchise’s big screen debut. Some critics were positively incensed that the heroic lead character in the popular 1966-1973 TV series that inspired the film had been reconstituted in Brian De Palma’s big-screen reboot as a treacherous turncoat. Indeed, a few malcontents went so far as predicting the film would be angrily rejected by likeminded fans of the source material — and probably shrugged off by whippersnappers with no memory of the original show.
Which, of course, is exactly what happened – not!
Now, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” — the latest entry in what has turned out to be the second-longest running movie franchise (after “Star Trek”) ever spawned by a live-action television series — has arrived in theaters and drive-ins everywhere. And while there have been better and lesser sequels, Tom Cruise’s charismatic portrayal of Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt — a character turbo-charged by alternating currents of ice-cold calculation and death-defying spontaneity, selfless loyalty and self-assured snark — has remained a reliable constant.
Here is Variety’s slightly revised ranking of all seven “Mission: Impossible” movies. At least one film has been moved up a notch, after certain titles were reappraised during the extended COVID lockdown (which, not incidentally, delayed production of the new “M:I” opus). For the most part, though, the ranking has remained consistent. Just like Ethan Hunt.
'Mission: Impossible III' (2006)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: When he isn’t busy wooing, and eventually wedding, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), a nurse who knows nothing about his spy-guy activities, Ethan Hunt leads his IMF team in pursuit of a MacGuffin-ish device (known as “Rabbit’s Foot”) coveted by arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
THE RUNDOWN: Despite the game efforts of director J.J. Abrams to humanize Ethan by supplying a civilian romantic interest — and showing he’s not so ruthless that he’d make good on his threat to drop an uncooperative bad guy (a well-cast Hoffman) out of an airplane — the threepeat is a curiously bland spectacle that is nothing more (but, to be fair, nothing less) than the sum of its sporadically exciting action set pieces. Not surprisingly, it is the lowest-grossing entry in the entire franchise (so far).
'Mission: Impossible II' (2000)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: Ethan Hunt convinces beautiful thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton) to renew her affair with IMF turncoat Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) in order to retrieve vials of an artificially created virus. Complications arise when Hunt falls for Nyah — and she is infected with the virus.
THE RUNDOWN: Although relatively restrained when compared to director John Woo’s dizzyingly kinetic and flamboyantly stylized previous films (“The Killer,” “Hard Boiled,” “Face-Off,” etc.), this chronically and unfairly underrated sequel serves up a generous amount of suspense-fraught thrills and impressively choreographed spills, along with a side order of borderline-operatic emotional intensity. Yes, the climactic seaside confrontation between Ethan and Ambrose (first on motorcycles, then up-close and lethal) is outrageously over the top. But, well, it’s supposed to be. Also worth noting: The clever homages to Alfred Hitchcock classics, especially “Notorious” (the racetrack sequence and the entire Ethan/Nyah relationship) and “North by Northwest” (Ambrose’s back-and-forth with an underling played by Richard Roxburgh echoes the vaguely kinky give-and-take between James Mason and Martin Landau).
'Mission: Impossible' (1996)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: After IMF chief Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) dies in the line of duty — yeah, right — special agent Ethan Hunt must assume command of a mission to keep a list of deep-cover CIA operatives from being sold by an IMF mole.
THE RUNDOWN: Years later, the most striking thing about director Brian De Palma’s franchise kick-off is the quaintly retro look of formerly cutting-edge technology (note the floppy discs and portentous references to — dun-dun-DUN! — “The Internet”). On the other hand, some things never look dated: Hunt’s wire-supported drop into a high-security CIA vault remains one of the most suspenseful (and frequently imitated) heist sequences in all of movie history. And there’s still something richly amusing about the shameless flirting between Tom Cruise’s boyish Hunt and Vanessa Redgrave’s bemused arms dealer.
'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' (2011)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: After Ethan Hunt is (wrongly) blamed for destroying a significant section of the Kremlin, the Impossible Missions Force is temporarily disbanded. On his own, he employs three comrades — techie Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), special op Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and “intelligence analyst” William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) — to stop a deranged Russian nuclear strategist (Michael Nyqvist) from triggering World War III because… because… well, because he wants to.
THE RUNDOWN: Making a smashingly successful debut as a live-action director, Brad Bird (“The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles”) propels the globe-hopping narrative at an entertainingly brisk clip, pausing only for such sensational set pieces as Ethan’s death-defying dangling outside an upper-floor of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (a.k.a. “The Tallest Structure in the World”) and a climactic confrontation on various levels of a Mumbai automated parking garage. And yet: The primary appeal of “M:I 4” is its willingness to sporadically demonstrate how the high-tech gadgetry sometimes doesn’t work — at one point, even the usually reliable mask-making thingamajig glitches — forcing Ethan and his teammates to improvise while ratcheting up the suspense. (This occasionally happened on the old TV show as well.) Only complaint: Franchise mainstay Ving Rhames appears only in a fleeting cameo as ace computer hacker Luther Stickell. (By the way: You know that Ethan/Julia marriage in in the third “M:I” movie? It is more or less removed from the equation here.)
'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' (2015)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: Overcoming efforts by CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) to absorb the IMF into his agency, Ethan leads compatriots Benji Dunn, William Brandt and Luther Stickell in a mission to neutralize The Syndicate, a rogue outfit led by fanatical former British spy Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Another Brit operative — the formidable Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson)— may be friend or foe.
THE RUNDOWN: Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie keeps the franchise firing on all cylinders while effectively emphasizing, to a degree greater than in previous “M:I” films, IMF teamwork as much as Ethan’s solo heroics. The most memorable sequence is at once low-tech and highly suspenseful, an ingeniously sustained, cleverly Hitchcockian backstage skirmish during a performance at a Vienna opera house. (Bad guys wish to assassinate someone; Ethan doesn’t want that someone to be assassinated.) And it’s nice to see Ethan isn’t the only one who gets to kick ass during a final-reel face-off: Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust is a knockout as she causes grievous bodily harm to a villain who foolishly mistakes her for just another pretty face.
'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' (2018)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: Ethan once again deals with a hostile takeover attempt as new CIA boss Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) demands that her hand-picked operative, August Walker (Henry Cavill), accompany the IMF team to observe and report (and, maybe, eliminate) while they attempt to retrieve three plutonium cores seized by The Apostles, an offshoot of The Syndicate (see “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation”).
THE RUNDOWN: The sixth entry in the seemingly unstoppable franchise certainly can stand on its own as a rousing rush of breakneck excitement and sensational stunt work. (Credit writer-director Christopher McQuarrie with leaping over the bar he raised in “Rogue Nation.”) But for anyone who’s been following the adventures of Ethan Hunt since 1996, “Fallout” is all the more satisfying as a cinematic class reunion, with pointed allusions to images and incidents from previous “M:I” movies (note the reprise of Ethan’s rock-climbing from the opening of “M:I 2”) and welcome return appearances by long-time and recently introduced series regulars. As Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has aged gracefully into something like gravitas while maintaining his boundless and infectious enthusiasm. And Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell and Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn do standout double-duty as backup crew and Greek chorus, playing it fast-and-frantically straight during the action sequences but also offering wink-wink observations about Ethan’s trademark penchant for unpremeditated risk-taking. All that’s missing is a paraphrase of Britney Spears: “Whoops! He did it again!”
'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' (2023)
Image Credit: Everett Collection THE PITCH: The hits just keep on coming as Ethan is tasked with retrieving two halves of a cruciform key that could enable anyone who possesses it to control — or neutralize — a rogue artificial-intelligence dingus known as “The Entity.” (Timely, huh?) A few old friends, and at least one old enemy, are along for the wild ride.
THE RUNDOWN: Yes, it’s true — the “Mission: Impossible” movies have come to constitute that rare (if not unprecedented) franchise in which each new episode seems bigger, bolder and better than its immediate predecessor. The chase sequences, both high-speed and footrace, are alternately exhilarating and heart-pounding (and sometimes both at once), plus the set pieces that have Tom Cruise eschewing CGI and defying death dial it up to 12, then a few notches higher. Along the way, Ethan Hunt has become a more intriguing, conscience-bothered hero without depleting his cockiness. (At one point, he refrains from killing a female adversary because, well, maybe he’s just too damned tired of women dying on his account.) But a major part of the fun for longtime fans of the franchise is catching the wink-wink allusions to previous “M:I” adventures, including a malfunctioning mask-maker (a reprise from “Ghost Protocol”), pointed references to classic Hitchcock thrillers a la “M:I 2” (here, a hostile couple handcuffed as in “The 39 Steps”) and an exciting climax aboard a speeding train that is much, much more spectacular than the 1996 scene it faintly echoes. Speaking of the first “Mission: Impossible”: Not only do two characters from that film — one bad, one flexible — make return appearances here. Because the Entity can control just about all digital communications, characters must often resort to using the sort of dated technology that seemed state-of-the-art back in the 1996 flick. There’s even a brief scene in which people use — Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? — typewriters. Remember those?