It has been almost three decades since Tom Cruise stepped into the skintight bodysuit of Ethan Hunt and accepted his first impossible mission, and... he’s still going – without seemingly ageing a day.
The Mission Impossible franchise has shown remarkable resilience since bursting into cinemas back in 1996, raking in more than $3.5bn (£2bn) at the box office worldwide, according to BoxOfficeMojo. And it is set for another big opening next week with the arrival of the seventh instalment, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (Part One).
Part Two, which is scheduled for release on June 28, 2024, should see even more interest around it as it is expected to be a send-off for Ethan Hunt.
What is the secret of its success? Well it has a bona fide action star in Cruise, and as a producer on the series he has been savvy in the choice of directors – such as Brian De Palma, John Woo, JJ Abrams, Brad Bird and Christopher McQuarrie. It means that unlike James Bond, there have been no clunkers across the franchise (so far).
But which is the best? My mission, should I choose to accept it, is how to rank Ethan Hunt’s Impossible Mission Force (IMF) adventures so far...
6. Mission Impossible III (2006)
Not a bad movie! In fact, a pretty good one. ‘Worst’ feels very harsh in this list.
I have very few qualms with it overall. The domestic subplot drags in places but at least the introduction of a firm love interest gives Ethan some personal stakes beyond just saving the world every few years.
JJ Abrams has the common sense (or should that be chutzpah?) to not even explain the film’s McGuffin (a ‘Rabbit’s Foot’) because as with all the Mission entries, the juice isn’t in the plot but in the action and the characters.
Abrams is also smart enough not to try and one-up the first film’s Langley heist 10 years on, instead MI3 makes a big show of Hunt landing on the building to collect his mysterious quarry... then it cuts to him on the other side, being chased by security.
I suppose Mission Impossible III finds itself at the bottom because, outside of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s villainous Owen Davian, there’s not a lot in here that sticks in the memory, or isn’t done better elsewhere.
The explosive-charge-in-the-brain peril is pretty good too and the film did give us Simon Pegg’s Benji (originally that role was going to be Ricky Gervais...).
5. Mission Impossible II (2000)
Definitely considered the ugly duckling of the franchise and that’s not without some cause.
The plot isn’t up to much (it’s essentially a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1946 spy caper Notorious) and yes, it is the film that has ‘dated’ the most – but it’s still great fun. There’s an overload of mask disguises, a romantically-conflicted villain and a motorbike chase.
And M:I-2 (as it was stylised) is the last time Ethan Hunt possessed some real sexual energy before he became an earnest Wife Guy in MI:3 and latterly a sexless, invulnerable Superman.
The scene where Hunt recruits Thandiwe Newton’s jewel thief Nyah in the bathtub is an erotic delight. It’s a shame her character got memory-holed after ending the film enjoying a romantic holiday with Cruise.
What feels really great about the second entry is that it is so much a John Woo movie (critics might say too much). There are doves flying out of nowhere, swinging camera moves and lots (and lots) of slow motion. The climactic fist fight in the sand is either a high point or a nadir, depending upon your overall view of the movie.
4. Mission Impossible (1996)
The mixed critical reaction to Tom Cruise’s first outing as Hunt back in 1996 is baffling in the cold light of 2023.
Fans of the TV show may have been irked at the decision to make Jim Phelps a villain (Jon Voight is having so much fun here), but there is so much to love here, and not just the instantly iconic high-wire Langley heist, which is a highlight of both the series and of director Brian De Palma’s career.
The first Mission is easily the series’ most stylish film thanks to De Palma’s camerawork and Cruise carries the convoluted plot thanks to his youthful charm and flirtatiousness (the scenes between him and Vanessa Redgrave, who plays a veteran arms dealer, practically sizzle).
The biggest weakness is the final act train sequence, with ropey CGI and a certain level of implausibility (a helicopter flying in a train tunnel, really?).
But it’s still the film that feels the most like a spy film and the least like an action film, and Ethan’s boyishness gave him a unique charm, compared to transatlantic rival James Bond.
3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
This was Christopher McQuarrie’s first go in the director’s chair after doing some script work for the previous entry.
McQ – as Cruise invariably refers to him – was to the manor born for this gig, perfectly blending Tom Cruise’s star power with a diverse cast of supporting characters, a great plot and some of the best action of the series.
Back in 1996, the first Mission was criticised for making the IMF too much of a one-man band.
Throughout the series supporting characters have come and gone (pour one out for Newton, Paula Patton and Maggie Q) but with Rogue Nation the balance is perfect between Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and the introduction of Rebecca Ferguson‘s Ilsa Faust.
Rogue Nation introduces the Syndicate, a shadowy group of disavowed secret agents conspiring together to disrupt the world order, headed by the deliciously calculating Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).
Hunt has, once again, gone rogue and is trying to track down Lane while also evading capture by the CIA, meanwhile Jeremy Renner’s Brandt tries to help him from the inside.
The Vienna Opera assassination scene is fantastic. And the heist requirement is fulfilled with a suitably nerve-wracking underwater sequence .
The final story beats strain credulity but this is a Mission movie, that is almost to be expected.
2. Mission Impossible: Fallout
It will be sacrilige to some to not have Fallout top but I cannot get away from the nagging feeling that director McQuarrie tipped the action/spy balance a bit too much into the former and not enough in the latter.
But, that said, what action it is.
Fallout is possibly the greatest action film of the 21st century and the five-year wait for a sequel has been agonising for fans of the series.
The run from HALO drop into Paris, to the nightclub bathroom brawl, to the extraction of Solomon Lane from an armoured convoy... the series does not get much better than this, nor does action-movie filmmaking.
Six movies in, you’d think a footchase through the London streets would be rather rote, but thanks to a perfect balance of humour and tension, McQuarrie makes it nailbiting (and wince-inducing when Cruise breaks his ankle).
Yes, Fallout is another Mission film that essentially ends with Hunt and the villain du jour kicking lumps out of each other, although this time it’s at least on the edge of a cliff after a kick-ass helicopter chase (it was a bit of a shame to reveal this in the trailer).
1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
It took a director better known for animation, Brad Bird, to really show what a Mission movie could be.
Ghost Protocol is an all-action globe-trotting adventure that takes in Budapest, Moscow, Dubai, Mumbai and Seattle.
The centrepiece of the movie – the Burj Khalifa sequence – cemented Tom Cruise’s affinity for death-defying stunts which have become a franchise trademark (although he had earlier dabbled in free-climbing with the credit sequence for Mission Impossible II).
Bird decides to basically ditch the signature mask disguises (the IMF team doesn’t use them at all) and instead make the most of his outstanding cast and some great action set pieces.
Within the first 40 minutes Hunt breaks out of a prison, then sneaks into and busts out of the Kremlin, then busts out of a Russian hospital. No building can hold this man (hence why he has to climb on the side of the tallest one on the planet?)
Not only does the action absolutely rip - even a barely-visible chase through a sandstorm - but there are quantifiable emotional beats in this movie beyond The Cruiser.
Jeremy Renner’s mysterious Brandt is haunted by a failure in his past, Paula Patton’s Jane Carter is seething for revenge and Simon Pegg’s Benji is the field agent novice desparate to prove his worth. It’s a shame there was no space in the ensemble for series regular Luther Stickel.
One minor quibble: the villain is largely forgettable. Codename ‘Cobalt’, he is an endgame nuclear war theorist who believes the world needs a global apocalypse to re-grow. Bird wisely cuts around him during the climactic fist fight in a parking garage because we know there’s no way Ethan Hunt should lose a fist-fight to this guy.
But that doesn’t stop this being the best Mission film and the one against which all others should be judged.
