Time: 110 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence
Cast:
Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
Jon Voight as Jim Phelps
Emmanuelle Béart as Claire Phelps
Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
Vanessa Redgrave as Max Mitsopolis
Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge
Jean Reno as Franz Krieger
Director: Brian De Palma

Ethan Hunt, an American special agent, struggles to prove his innocence and catch the real culprit when he is falsely accused of murdering his entire team.

I like the Mission Impossible movies, however for me it had a bit of a struggle period as it started. While it was certainly iconic, I wasn’t really into the first movie that much. I appreciated how it started the series, and it had great parts, but overall I found it to be an overcomplicated and passable spy movie. I didn’t intend on coming back to it, but when I watched the latest film in the series Dead Reckoning (Part 1), which had some callbacks to the first movie from having the character of Kittridge, to its use of dutch angles, I was interested in revisiting it. I’m so glad I did because its much better than I remember it being.

The first Mission: Impossible definitely gets better the more you come back to it, more so than any other film in the series. It has something of a complicated plot and one that is hard to follow, which can alienate some people who watch it (including myself). But after a number of viewings, I understand it now, and I think it is very well put together. It’s not nearly as grand as the Mission: Impossible films from the past 10 years, but is nonetheless a very effective espionage spy thriller, probably one of the better written MI films as well. The dialogue is witty, and the twists are well placed and unpredictable. It’s also benefits from a fairly tight pace, and the somewhat shorter runtime of 110 minutes.

This is the first time that Tom Cruise plays one of his most known characters, Ethan Hunt. As a character, Hunt isn’t as developed as he would be compared to the later movies. However, Cruise does well at capturing the anxiety and paranoia that his character is feeling. The rest of the cast are also great, especially Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, and Jean Reno.

Initially you wouldn’t really think of Brian de Palma of all people making a blockbuster, but his deliberate style and direction adds a lot to Mission: Impossible, and the end result is great. The cinematography is stellar, with solid long takes, fantastic blocking, and it helps to tell the story visually. Something notable is that it handles tension very well, especially with the camera choices and editing. One such example is the iconic scene in the restaurant between Ethan Hunt and Kittridge (Henry Czerny), and even before it reaches the stunt of Hunt running away from an exploding fish tank, the central conversation with the on edge score and the camera angles accompanying the performances and dialogue ramp up the suspense. Then there’s of course the classic Mission Impossible scene in which Ethan and his team perform a heist where he is suspended from wires; it still looks amazing today. The final sequence involving a train is starkly different from the other set pieces in the rest of the movie, but its still well done and enjoyable to watch despite the dated CGI and VFX. Danny Elfman’s score is really good; most importantly of all, it takes the original tv show’s theme and turned it into an instantly recognisable tune.

I now consider Mission: Impossible to be a great movie, and even better on repeat viewings. It has a smart and riveting plot, it’s tightly and stylistically directed with tense sequences, and it has a solid cast who perform well in their roles. For me, its in the top 4 best Mission: Impossible movies, and is the best one not directed by Christopher McQuarrie. If you didn’t find it to be that remarkable last time you saw it, I do think it is worthwhile revisiting it.