Mission: Impossible

Stealth is a key element of tension and, even though DePalma tosses his share of fireballs around, Mission: Impossible gets edgier when it gets quieter. The audience's rapt, empathetic silence while Hunt hangs there in peril proves how well the director does it. [24 May 1996, p.5]

De Palma makes us sweat; slow, quiet scenes are as nerve-bending as occasional explosions and the final, frantic battle. He calls himself a director for hire on projects such as this and "The Untouchables," where he has little input before shooting. But his skill at maintaining tension is his main asset, and he uses it to the max here. [24 May 1996, p.1E]

The bottom line on a film like this is, Tom Cruise looks cool and holds our attention while doing neat things that we don't quite understand--doing them so quickly and with so much style that we put our questions on hold, and go with the flow.

Mission: Impossible does provide enough old-fashioned fireworks for a big-budget summer spectacle. But despite the cinematic bravado, this mission ultimately represents a white flag being waved at the notion of updating the TV show. The movie seems to argue that because the Cold War is over, all the good global-conspiracy plots have become obsolete. The intrigue, instead, must turn in on itself like a snake devouring its own tail. [22 May 1996]

Although the film is watchable and, at times, even borderline entertaining, it has its share of problems. Mainly, the filmmakers seem to have had trouble deciding just what kind of movie they were making. [22 May 1996, p.E1]

Some of the suspense set-pieces are impressive, but the picture would pack a greater wallop if it were stitched together more tightly and consistently.

It's the worst kind of convoluted thriller -- it can never unravel satisfactorily because there's nothing simple at its center, just more confusion.

De Palma is back with this classic that will go on until Tom Cruise was probably 90 years old, Mission: Impossible is simply one of De Palma's best if not the best, i can't say that this is his best yet up until this point because i did miss a lot of his movie since Body Double, anyway, Mission: Impossible was a banger i tell you that, it is quite a complicated spy film that geniusly crafted, well acted by all the cast especially of course Mr. Tom Cruise himself, Danny Elfman incredible score, and the main theme song that will give people an orgasm everytime it get played, it's a thrilling exciting ride with a very well done action sequence, a well written dialogue, and lot's of twist here and there, it just a fantastic incredible journey, and a very very clever movie, i really dig Mission: Impossible, it's one of the best spy movie i've ever seen and one of the best action movie i've ever seen, and i cannot wait for all the next exciting Ethan Hunt mission.

"Mission: Impossible" doesn't have the momentum, suspense or soul that the future films have. It moves, awkwardly at times, from one elaborate scene to the next. It has an A-List cast that gets mostly wasted, a convoluted plot with holes in the script cause the narrative to burp at times and really terrible special effects that don’t hold up well. I know it was the nineties and special effects are more advanced now but even by nineties special effects standards the train sequence looked so bad it makes Air Force One's special effects look more realistic. It proves something of a letdown, not just because it's fairly easy to guess who the bad guy is but also because we've hardly gotten to know anyone in the movie well enough to become more than superficially involved with them. I think a lot of Film Twitter idiots over praise the first one because they're confusing nostalgia with quality.

Mission: Impossible has more of a maestro theme as the penny drop with a decent heist scene. My only downfall with Mission: Impossible is some of the scenes have some confusing judgement calls.

The plot is shallow yet hard to follow, there's no action at all and the only good part is very bland and could not be directed any worse. No editing took place at all to capture the intense moment. If the actual "Mission Impossible" part lasted half an hour with solid direction and editing it could have been great.

This is a great retcon or reboot and probably an 8-9/10. What I cant forgive however is destroying Jim Phelps. He is the hero of Mission Impossible and a legend. He stopped countless villains and saved so many lives. He deserved better. Small spoilers: For those who only known the movies. Mission Impossible was a TV series from 1966-1973 with a revival in 1988/89. Jim Phelps played by Peter Graves is (except the first season) the leader of the team. He is not only a true leader but also a role model for the gentleman good guy. He would rather die than betray his team and organization. For comparison: Think that James Bond is the villain in the next movie with no twist and nonsensical explanation. Then he gets stopped by a new guy that you have never heard of. Ability wise Jim Phelps could easily win. He is a legend and has the ranks to destroy them from within but this is fundamentally against his character. This is the reason for my rating. Without this it is an enjoyable movie with great stunts, memorable scenes and good actors. I also praise the special effects, sets and the memorable soundtrack. Especially the Mission Impossible theme is a timeless classic that I have heard so often but it never gets boring. Like I said in the beginning they could even be better and I still would give a low rating. Overall this is a great movie if you don't know the series. If you knew it it is a betrayal of a hero and beloved character. I often think or compare it with the South Park episode where George Lucas **** Indiana Jones assisted by Steven Spielberg. A fitting analogy.