Mission Impossible

It was a big week for movies about super secret spy agencies. First the Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation trailer drops, then the Spectre trailer. Well on top of that all, its my Spring Break, I thought I needed to watch something that had to do with the secret spy genre.

Personally, I think I actually watched Mission Impossible more than I watched any James Bond movie. Looking at them now, I'm pretty confident that the James Bond series is the better series. But I think the Mission Impossible series has actually started on a track of being the actual American James Bond. Now, I can't say for sure whether or not that's going to happen, but what I can do is go back to 1996 and take a look at the original Mission Impossible.

Mission Impossible follows the story of Ethan Hunt (played iconically by Tom Cruise), a secret agent with the Impossible Missions Force. Its never really clear whether or not IMF is apart of the CIA or its own independent organization but I think in this one its a little bit more clear to be a section of the CIA.

Ethan Hunt is a field agent within a specialized team. This team is led by Jim Phelps (played by Jon Voight). Ethan has a personal connection with Phelps and of course the team is very effective.

At the start of the film, the team is tasked with observing and apprehending a Russian informant trying to steal the CIA NOC list. Its actually a plot that was in fact used pretty well in the most recent James Bond film, Skyfall.

Well the mission goes awry and everyone on the team is dead with the exception of Ethan. Naturally, IMF believes that Ethan is responsible for the death of the team and he is in fact the mole that they have been looking for recently.

On the run, Ethan makes it his mission to find the real mole and clear his name. To do this, he needs to allign himself with other disavowed IMF agents, weapons dealers, and people he may or may not trust.

The talent that was in this movie is actually really good. Its a lot of actors who were well known and made the entire movie fun. Tom Cruise had already made a name for himself at this point as an actor, but I think it was Mission Impossible and the series that followed, that really solidified Cruise as a popular movie star. I was watching a video the other day and they were debating on whether or not Tom Cruise is a good actor, or just a popular movie star. I am personally of the idea that he's a good actor, but he's also a very, VERY good movie star. I think its movies like this, Top Gun, and Jerry MacGuire that just make Cruise a household name. Mission Impossible definitely has its place. Then you've got Jon Voight, another credible actor. Then you've got Jean Reno. You've got Ving Rhames, you've got an uncredited Emilio Estevez cameo. I don't know, watching it, I realize its a really fun cast.

The story is very smart. Its a really fun spy thriller. Its got its twists and turns and I think with the good cast, the movie goes down as probably one of the best in the series, in my book.

The film however is very different from any of the other films that have come out in this series. If you were to show this movie then show me Ghost Protocol, I probably wouldn't think they were the same franchise.

Now the movie was adapted from the Mission Impossible TV show. Now of course I have not seen the TV show but I think it was more trying to create a movie adaptation of the TV show rather than an American James Bond.

So how is the first movie different?

I can explain this more if I decide to do more reviews of Mission Impossible 2 and/or Ghost Protocol. You can probably tell the difference between this movie and MI3 directed by J.J. Abrams in my review of that film. The main thing though is the different directors. Brian De Palma directed this film and De Palma went for a more subtle and plot driven story rather than Woo and the others who put more of an emphasis on action. Its not to say the stories are not good, especially since Mission Impossible 2 is actually one of my favorites with the combination of story and action, all of it being incredibly hokey. Lots of people don't like MI2 as much, but I personally love it.

Furthermore, it was 1996, technology was a lot different and I don't know if action was even as great in the spy genre. This film was sandwiched by Pierce Brosnan's earliest films as Bond, Goldeneye, and Tomorrow Never Dies. I've only seen Goldeneye but I do know that the action was not nearly the level achieved since, especially with movies like Bourne and Casino Royale coming out since. Mission Impossible is pretty much the same. It was right on the verge of an improvement on technology and fight choreography, but with what was available and done before, Mission Impossible made due with what it could.

I think in that sense, you could probably consider Mission Impossible the most clever and reserved out of all of them. The movie definitely has its flaws though. There's a big twist near the end of the movie that apparently Ethan figures out, but when I was a kid, I never really understood how he figured that out. Even today I'm not totally sure.

Furthermore the acting is a little hokey at times and characters can switch sides for like, no reason. On top of that, I'm realizing more and more that none of the movies really explain who Ethan Hunt is as a character. Now maybe that's fine and we don't need necessarily know who he is. I think the gravitas of Tom Cruise helps this character out a lot that his personality makes him interesting and makes me invested on whether or not he lives.

On top of all of that, while not every movie needs to have action and perhaps Mission Impossible was a more clever movie for not being oversaturated with action, I do feel it has its slow moments because of it. That iconic scene of Ethan suspended in midair, while awesome, could put me to sleep with how quiet it is.

However, the movie still is the thing that started it all. Ethan Hunt has changed so much over the past almost 20 years and while it hasn't been maybe the most character driven 20 years, I still think the franchise is pretty damn good.

I guess now is as good of a time to show the trailer for Rogue Nation and by the pictures alone, you can probably tell that this franchise has evolved incredibly since.

I am personally very excited but what about you? Are you excited for Mission Impossible Rogue Nation? Do you think the franchise has gotten better or worse since Mission Impossible 1? Also do you think eventually when Tom Cruise can no longer play Ethan Hunt (which will probably be when he dies) do you think they will reboot the character the same way they reboot Bond every so often? Comment and Discuss below! Also shoot me a tweet @cmhaugen24 and follow me on Twitter to get updates on movie news and reviews!

I'll leave you with this. In the spirit of things, here is the trailer for Spectre. Its not much, but I'm definitely excited nonetheless. Enjoy!