Mission: Impossible Review

Mission: Impossible is a film directed by Brian de Palma. I have seen this film one time before. But I again decided to see it since I wanted to go into the intricacies of this venture. And I was stunned.

Plot: Ethan Hunt, an IMF agent is on the run from his superiors for killing his team and stealing a NOC list.

Story and direction: This film is more of a thriller film than an action one, which was very rare at the time at which it released. This is what impressed me the most. The story is very intriguing and for every second of the film you feel the tension mounting. The complaint heard mostly from this film is that you can’t move away from the screen even onece as you may miss something. But I genuinely don’t see that as a flaw. Don’t the people who invest in the movies want the audience to put their whole focus on the movie itself? The characters and their story are also very interesting. In the initial scenes itself, you care for Ethan Hunt. He worries about the safety of his agents and his country and that was very beautifully shown. The score by Danny Elfman works wonders. In some scenes, there is total silence as the director wants to tap on the tension. This shows that Brian de Palma is in love with his work. The action scenes are minimal in this one, but they are great. They feel real even 22 years later. But the film had one minor flaw for me. It was the VFX in the climactic battle. It looked like blue/green screen work in the background which made me cringe a bit.

Performances: Tom Cruise’s image changed overnight just because of his character, Ethan Hunt. I just loved him. He lived each and every moment in the film. Who could have tought of a big bald, plumpy black guy like Ving Rhames as a hacker? Not me. He just was great and did provide some comic relief in the film. Jon Voight is awesome. So were Vanessa Redgrave and Jean Reno. Henry Czerny is the kind of boss that just doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on and I loved that. I had a small issue with Emmanuelle Beart’s casting. She still happens to retain her French accent, which is never explained in the film.

Favorite Scene: It would be the scene where Luther, Krieger, Claire and Ethan are on a train to the US and Ethan explains as to what they are about to do. The tension is what gave me goosebumps as it just happens to explain the following scene. Also, the thing done well was showing Ethan’s confidence and Luther’s doubt in the mission.

Verdict: This film marked the beginning of a great franchise which boasted not only goo stunts but also good character development and things that are still remembered even 20 years after. I applaud Brian de Palma and team for bringing such a film to the screens.

I am going with an 8.5/10.