MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES: RANKINGS and REASONS
THE RANKINGS:
1) Mission Impossible 3
2) Rogue Nation
3) Mission Impossible
4) Ghost Protocol
5) Mission Impossible Fallout
6) Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
7) Mission Impossible 2
8) Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1
THE REASONS:
1) Mission Impossible 3
The absolute best in the series for a whole ton of reasons, this was the first movie JJ Abrahms ever directed and boy was he out to prove himself. The villain, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is by far the best, scariest, and most charismatic villain the series has to offer. The story, involving Ethan Hunt having a life outside of the missions, and a wife, is creatively great. The locations and heists, including one in Vatican City and another in Shanghai, China, are top notch. And the stunts, including a gunfight in a warehouse with the tossing of a gun from one person to another, a bridge being blown up from missiles that are fired out of helicopters, and a skyscraper rooftop jump, are all terrific.
This movie doesn’t have the biggest stunts in the series (after all, the series ended up hanging its star from the Burj Khalifa and blowing up the Kremlin in other films,) but it has the stunts that look the coolest and are filmed the best. This is the movie where the action, story, and locations all work seamlessly together. It also ends up feeling like the most grounded and down to earth movie in the series. Just look at how its climax goes for its smallest and most personal fight yet, as our heroes duke it out on the first floor of a tiny house in Shanghai. This one is smart and creative the whole way through. On top of that, it might be the only movie in the series that is actually easy to follow, without having to deal with the slightest hint of a confusing plot. It is the movie that pulls back the curtain the most to show us a different angle or perspective on the series. Maybe that means Ethan has a wife and picks up his mission recorded message from a throw away camera at a convenience store. Maybe it means we get to see one of those cool disguise masks created from the very beginning for once. Whatever it is, this movie has it and this movie does it.
2) Rogue Nation
The next best movie in the series has got to be the one that is also relatively grounded. Rogue Nation might not give Ethan a life outside of the missions the way that MI 3 did, but it does feature smaller set pieces in more intimate locations, such as an underground record store and an Opera Theater with a cool fight on the catwalks. Also like the third movie, this one features another memorable and menacing villain. That villain is played by Sean Harris and features the creepiest of looks and voices.
This is the first movie in the series directed by Christopher McQuarie, (the man who would go on to direct every movie afterwards,) and it is definitely his best. It’s the entry he made before he started getting comfortable with the material and just repeating the same tone and ideas. Here, he was actually making something cool.
This movie also feels like a turning point in the series. Starting with this one, all the movies begin to feel connected. Now, despite how it sounds, that turns out to not be a good thing, since what made these special before was that each movie had a different director and a uniquely different style.
But Rogue Nation as the movie that sort of resets the series, is definitely better than anything that comes after it. Not only is Harris established here, but so is his organization (the Syndicate, not to be confused with Spectre from the Bond movies,) and so is Rebecca Ferguson’s character, Ilsa Faust. All are nice additions to the series.
But what really makes this movie great, aside from the grounded feel and the villain, are the action scenes. Tom Cruise hanging off the side of a plane while it takes flight, Cruise holding his breath while swimming underwater in a massive tank with an electric arm that threatens to crush him as it rapidly spins around the tank. An incredibly thrilling motorcycle chase that easily puts everything done on motorcycles in John Woo’s MI2 to shame. The plot here might be a little confusing from time to time (just as it is in almost all of these movies,) but other than that, this one is pretty great.
3) Mission Impossible
The movie that started it all, this is the one where every action scene or heist moment has now become iconic. Whether it’s Ethan blowing up a fish tank in a restaurant, or jumping from a helicopter onto a speeding train, as the helicopter blows up behind him in a tunnel, or of course the hanging scene where he dangles over a pressurized floor while hacking into a computer, this is the movie that had to be larger than life to get this series going… and it was.
Part of one of the most memorable summer blockbuster lineups in movie history, (1996s Twister, the Rock, Independence Day,) this movie more than held its own against those giants. It also cemented Tom Cruise as an action star. Yes, he had made Top Gun about a decade earlier, but not much else in the realm of action since.
The movie was all about the mystery. You had an opening mission gone wrong, where nearly the entire team was killed. There was a NOC list of the names of all undercover spies in the CIA, and a buyer named Max, and a whole bunch of other complications. In fact, the big problem with this movie was just how complex it was, and challenging to follow. But the action scenes and excitement more than made up for it.
4) Ghost Protocol
Another very strong Mission movie, this one was directed by Brad Bird, which I still all these years later, doesn’t seem to make any sense. Bird was an animated movie director. He had made three movies at this point… The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. What in those three indicates that he could take on a live-action, mega budgeted, action movie? And yet, out of eight movies, this one is fourth best.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is actually quite good. From the attack on the Kremlin opening, including a cool hallway illusion trick to the Burj Khalifa hanging off the side of the tallest building in the world scene, there are definitely some cool things here. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton are also nice additions to the team (why couldn’t Patton stay on for more than one movie?)
The problem is that the third and final act of the movie is not all that interesting. There’s a party scene, a godly garage scene, and a villain that has got to be one of the most forgettable villains in the entire series. At the end of the day, it’s enjoyable, but definitely loses its momentum in the final act.
5) Mission Impossible Fallout
Out of eight movies, we really are looking at an even split where four are pretty good, and four are kind of lousy. Now, the lousy ones aren’t bad. They just don’t have the rewatchable factor and interest level that the other ones have.
Out of those four in the lower tier, Fallout is the best of the bunch. That’s mainly because of Henry Cavill. In a series where villains are so important (look at the top three and the memorable villains in Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sean Harris, and Jon Voight,) Cavill is right up there on the list. The bathroom fight where he cocks his arms like guns is great. So is the Halo jump. And the helicopter chase and mountain fight at the end are also awesome.
So what doesn’t work about this movie?
6) Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
7) Mission Impossible 2
8) Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1