Mission: Impossible Franchise - Cheap Thoughts

In the build up to Mission: Impossible - Fallout, I decided to go back and rewatch all of the Mission: Impossible films, because frankly, this is the best action franchise of all time. When you really think about it, what other franchise is this consistently good? A series of movies that are constantly pushing the boundaries of what they can get away with, becoming a breeding ground for talented directors to experiment and make every other movie look lazy by comparison, so let's talk about them.

Mission: Impossible (1996)
In a lot of ways, the first Mission: Impossible film feels like the black sheep of the Mission: Impossible franchise, for one thing, this is not an action film, it's just a straight up spy film. There's a severe lack of actual action in the film, and even the big set piece is a CGI train sequence, can you imagine something less Mission: Impossible than CGI? Which is not to insult the film in any way, it established the main quality of this franchise that it takes a director and let's them make whatever they want. In this case you have Brian DePalma, a man who likes to experiment with unconventional camera work to create this distinct yet awkward atmosphere throughout the whole film that truly makes it something memorable and helps dig in the paranoia and frantic nature of Ethan Hunt. This is a movie where the most iconic scene is the characters trying to be as quiet as possible. This movie isn't exciting but it is memorable both within it's own franchise and in the spy genre as a whole.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Considering this is the only Mission: Impossible film that is viewed as "bad" it's pretty good to know this franchise's rock bottom isn't that deep. A big part of me believes the backlash for this film comes from the initial jarring tone from the first film to this one. The second film was directed by John Woo, an action filmmaker best known for his in your face, flashy and over the top movies with classic films such as Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow & Face-Off. Now this is where I can see how he can be an odd choice, while the first one was quiet, this one is loud; the first one travelled all around the world, this one stays mostly in Australia for some reason; while the first one was subtle, this film is everything but. The inconsistencies are prevalent, but considering this is a series of films that is beloved because of it's inconsistencies between films, that initial juxtaposition doesn't sting as much anymore, and looking at it in retrospective, it's not that bad. Yes, the crew is the weakest in the series, the villains aren't that great and Ethan Hunt is kind of an unlikeable dick in the movie, overall, I'd compare this movie to a fireworks display, it's bright and entertaining but offers nothing of value, but you wouldn't expect it to. I can watch this movie and be decently entertained, and when the worst movie in your franchise can still be described as watchable, i'd still call that a success.

Mission: Impossible III (2006)
In someways I can't help but feel this might be my least favourite of the franchise, not because it's worse than the second one, but because it feels less distinct. Directed by J.J. Abrams who while has made many films I love, he's a director that lacks style. When you're watching a Brian DePalma film, you know you're watching a Brian DePalma film. When you're watching a John Woo film, you know you're watching a John Woo film. Honestly this film feels like it could just be marketed as any spy film, it almost seems embarrassed to be a Mission: Impossible film, even the theme song is missing through the majority of the film. I can certainly see while a less in-your-face director would be appealing, the film is very easy to digest for major audiences and I still very much enjoy the film for what it is. Heck, it has the best villain in the entire franchise with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and his opening torture scene is without a doubt one of the best scenes in the whole series. Furthermore is that the film puts so little effort into explaining the MacGuffin it kind of becomes brilliant again, they know we don't care, it's just an object to be fought for, so why bother trying to explain it when we can just cut straight to people fighting over it? While this movie is still good, it's still exciting, entertaining and enjoyable, and I understand why they had to go in this direction after the "failure" of the second one. I can't help but feel it's missing the flare this franchise lives on.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
In a lot of ways, this is the film that completely reinvigorated the Mission: Impossible franchise, not only being the most successful instalment in the franchise at the time, but with it's characters and structure. Brad Bird rather than ignoring everything else in the series like all the other films did, decided to take those elements and build upon them, turning Benji into an actual field agent, taking Julia and turning her into both an introduction for Brandt as well as give Ethan a bit more emotional baggage. However his biggest contribution is the insane dedication to practical stuntwork. Even within the film's text there's a return to analogue filmmaking with the technology and tools the team often relies on constantly breaks down, so the return to the "doing it by hand" style is both present thematically and with the way it's made. The Burj Khalifa scene is as iconic as it can be, and doesn't need me to explain how fantastic it is but seriously, nearly a decade later and the scene still blows my mind that they actually did that and how committed Tom Cruise is making these movies as good as possible.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Well apparently Chris McQuarrie took the Burj Khalifa scene as a challenge because he was determined to top it with this film. Yet again the stuntwork is magnificent in this instalment, but not just for huge set pieces such as the airplane opening or the underwater scene, but with action scenes such as the car chase turned bike chase in Dubai which is filled with so many small but insane moments that could not have been easy to pull off. It's also the first of the films to analyse Ethan Hunt as a character, that being the insane lengths he'll go to when trying to catch a criminal, endangering himself, his team and even the Prime Minister of Great Britain are all worth the risk. On top of that, the introduction of Ilsa Faust who is not only drowning in style but might be one of the most interesting characters the series has ever produced, acting as an equal or even greater agent than Hunt who you're never entirely sure whose side she's on. I have a hard time deciding between GP and RN over which is my favourite, the one who built this franchise up from nothing or the one who took what was built and only improved it? Either way they're both fantastic films that I love dearly.