Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Personal Ranking of Mission Impossible movies

This has been an intriguing franchise to watch all these years. The most interesting part about it is how it has gone in many different directions, and how for the most part each movie is not the same. Sure, some story elements can be the same for some movies, but the direction they explore these elements can change quite a bit, especially with the fact that the director has changed with each movie. What is more awesome, is how they push insane action and also how they will attempt to push for more practical effects as opposed to digital effects. I am very grateful for digital effects, especially for movies like Doctor Strange, but there is still something very special about doing the movies in real time and using practical effects, that is a process that has always captivated my imagination, and one of my favorite aspects about film-making. Also, it is great to see Tom Cruise attempt to wow us with some amazing stunt work, from jumping onto another building, dangling from an airplane that is taking off, and to climbing the world’s tallest building, he will do anything to wow the audience.

Since the Mission Impossible franchise is about to get it’s sixth entry, I decided to go back and re-watch all the previous movies to prepare for the experience of the newest movie. I decided I wanted to take the time and rank the movies. As always, this list reflects my opinion. Enjoy:

5. Mission Impossible 2 – This is probably a no surprise for anyone, as this is more likely at the bottom of everyone’s lists. Ironically, this was the first Mission Impossible movie I saw all the way through, and in theaters. Obviously one of the weaker and more unusual entries in the series, it is very stylized and doesn’t have the same things that makes the rest of the entries great. I have to give quick props that it does do something a bit different than the rest of the series, while that something wasn’t very good, it did attempt. I do really like the music in this. A crazy stunt in this is when the bad guy tries to stab Ethan Hunt and he is millimeters from stabbing his eye, they put a camera in the knife so they could stop it at the right moment.

4. Mission Impossible – The one that started it all. It was interesting going back to re-watch this and to think where the series has gone since then. A lot of great cast members here like Emilio Estivez who is the computer hacker at the beginning of the movie, and also Jean Reno who joins Ethan Hunt’s team during the second half of the movie. As well, we have Jon Voight playing Jim Phelps, and for those who don’t know, Jim Phelps was the main character in the original, and so I think this is suppose to be him many years later, I won’t go into too much of his character here since it does involve giving off spoilers to the movie, but still worth a watch. One of the big highlights is when they go to CIA Headquarters to steal the NOC list, and Ethan Hunt is hanging off a rope and has to be very careful to not trigger any of the alarms which is done through sound and touch. It’s funny to watch a lot of the technology and to see some of it dated today as opposed to how we have it now.

3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – This and the second on this list tend to switch on occasion as both are really good. This was directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who directed Jack Reacher which was a big surprise in 2012. This involves the Syndicate, which is basically an Anti-IMF, and just seeing the pieces come together and how it was formed and everyone’s involvement and all made this great to see. This is one that I saw in theaters opening weekend, and didn’t think highly of when I first saw it but it has gotten better as I re-watched it over the years. Rebecca Ferguson’s character has been a great addition to the team, and especially as I was sitting there trying to figure out who’s side she was really on, there were moments that I was just sitting there and second guessing it all. I also really liked the sequence where Ethan Hunt needed to switch out the card in an underwater tank to allow Benji to make it through without getting caught, and just how intense that scene got, and of course we can’t forget the scene at the beginning of the movie with Ethan Hunt hanging on the door of the airplane trying to get in. I think the finale was very good, just how it approaches solving the problem in a different way which has made this very intriguing, and I would say probably one of my favorite finales in this series, it was about outsmarting the villain.

2. Mission Impossible 3 – If I am not mistaken, I think this was JJ Abrams first attempt at directing a film, and it is very impressive. I really like the story of Ethan Hunt having a relationship and how that drives a lot of his decisions, and it really helps to boost his determination, especially near the end when he needs to retrieve the Rabbit’s Foot. We did see him fall in love in Mission Impossible 2, but this relationship felt more genuine than that one did. Of course the biggest highlight of the movie is the villain, portrayed by the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, if anyone in this series won the award for best villain, it would be him. I was watching a documentary on the DVD for this movie and he even mentioned that he didn’t see the character as a villain…..but instead as a maniac, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman sold that description perfectly, especially how he tells Ethan that he is going to kill his wife right in front of him, and just how chilling that is (honestly his portrayal as antagonists in various films, especially this, made it very difficult to buy his portrayal as a good guy in Hunger Games Catching Fire). I do have to bring up this, but an overlooked insane action sequence in this movie that is crazy intense is when Ethan drops the Rabbit’s Foot on the streets of Shanghai, and you have the cars just driving normal speed, and the team’s van stops millimeters right in front of Ethan’s face, Tom Cruise wanted everyone to drive the normal speed and not slow down to make it feel genuine, talk about insanity to get a shot for a movie. This one is totally worth checking out.

1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – This is my favorite entry in the series. This was Brad Brid’s first attempt at directing live action after directing classic animated movies like The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, and he does a superb job. They also shot some of the sequences using IMAX cameras, so when this arrived in theaters, I made sure I made the effort to see this on an IMAX screen, and it was totally worth it. The most insane stunt was to see Ethan Hunt climb the outside of one of the world’s tallest buildings, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. They use the IMAX cameras to film that scene, and when watching it on the IMAX screen kept me on the edge of my seat, just making sure that he doesn’t fall off. I actually remember watching it the first time and when Ethan is trying to cut through the glass and it fails and pushes him back and he falls a few feet before getting a grip back on the glass with his special gloves, I remember knocking over my drink because of how much that shocked me and just hoping he doesn’t fall to the ground. This is my favorite entry because of the larger than life aspect of the entire movie, and just the adventure aspect of this movie, they go through many locations, from the Kremlin to Dubai to Mumbai and many other locations in between. One of the complaints I have is the villains feeling weaker than the other entries, but the team working with each other makes up for it. However, I heard a suggestion from a critic that the real antagonist of this movie is not the people but instead, it’s the situations they were placed in, and you think  about it, it actually makes sense, all of their tech malfunctions on a consistent basis, and they are on the clock of failing just about each time, until the very end, nothing really works perfectly beforehand, honestly the situation or timing being more of the perfect villain actually works, but of course you can’t beat a madman like Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s character.


With the sixth entry out this weekend, I will be interested to see where it fits in my list. I will for sure share my thoughts on the movie when I see it. Thank you for reading.

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