Mission Impossible

Plot

Ethan Hunt is a member of an elite spy team called ‘IMF’ who are on an important mission. When practically his entire team is killed during, he discovers he is being set up – and disavowed from he agency. He then teams up with the last survivor of his team, as well as some other disavowed agents in order to discover who set him up, and clear his name.

Direction

Brian De Palmer directs the first of what would become an almost never ending film franchise, and he gives a great introduction to the character of Ethan Hunt. He also has some great filming techniques, such as odd camera angles (mainly focusing up during some tense conversations to add to the unease, and some solid use of the deep focus shot.

There have come some great action moments in this film, that have gone into pop culture lore and referenced in dozens of films since, and they include the ‘fish tank explosion’ the ‘cable hang in the vault’ and the train chase on its roof.

Cast/Characters

Tom Cruise was almost born to play Hunt, and he displays his niche here with both his personality, and his crazy stunt persona in a few key moments (the theft of the NOC list when he is hanging from the wire, and later in the film on top of the train.

Secondary cast are Ving Rhames as Luthor, who would also go on to star in almost all the films, reportedly getting the role to subvert expectations of what a computer hacker looks like.

Screen vets Vanessa Redgrave and Jean Reno play key roles that assist Ethan on his mission, and Jon Voight plays the character Jim Phelps from the original series. Obviously, there was some backlash when it is revealed that *** he is the bad guy *** later in the film.

Screenplay/Setting/Themes

Considering this is nearly 30 years old at time of writing this, some of the moments haven’t aged too badly – but some of the technology have like the use of the internet and floppy discs.

It definitely felt that the character was written for Cruise, and while he has his haters, I’m not one of them. Some of the scenes with him were done well, and he’s proven time and time again he has a screen presence. He also has great slight of hand in some moments too.

The cliché betrayal could be seen from a mile away, and this was a big thing for two reasons, Voight very rarely played a bad guy – and Jim Phelps WAS the main character of the original television series.

Score/Soundtrack

Reusing the original score, it is paired well with a subtle score by Danny Elfman. It plays quite softly most of the time with some memorable parts including the flashback moment.

Overall

A great introduction to the franchise, and Cruise did a great job as Ethan Hunt. Followed by (at the time of writing this) six sequels, with a seventh coming soon.

4/5