Pan and Slam

By Jason F. Koenigsberg

After almost thirty years and eight films the Mission: Impossible movie franchise comes to a close… for now. What started out as a chance for Tom Cruise to be a producer with Cruise/Wagner Productions along side his producing partner Paula Wagner and his chance to show off his action star chops along side big actions stars of the 90s like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis. Cruise ended up outlasting all of those big name stars for various reasons and even lasted longer as Ethan Hunt in this series than two different actors portrayals of James Bond, which this franchise owes a huge debt to for its globe trotting influence. What started off as a franchise meant to give different big name directors a chance to flex their muscles in a big budget blockbuster playground and a chance for Tom Cruise to showcase his movie star bravado in between working with other big name auteurs on dramatic award worthy projects turned into Cruise’s saving grace after his image suffered a series of PR nightmares in the mid 2000’s. Instead of being the bold and risk taking actor he was throughout the 90’s, Tom Cruise and his publicists decided that this Mission: Impossible franchise would be his image enhancement lifeline. He instead took risks to his body and not his career performing many of his own stunts and becoming the North American equivalent of Jackie Chan. All these years later the world is a very different place than it was at the time the first Mission: Impossible movie premiered back in May of 1996. Movies themselves are at a crossroads competing with streaming platforms and struggling to salvage brick and mortar theaters. Plus Tom Cruise is in a very different place than he was back in the mid 90’s. He is still one of the biggest and most famous movie stars on the planet and has been for about 40 years which is unprecedented. But from looking at his body of work it is hard to picture this same man taking the career risks he did and starring in movies like Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Collateral (2004). He would rather risk putting his ankle in a brace than risk his public image on bold scripts and potentially award worthy movies. Even though Tom Cruise has always been the biggest star of the Mission: Impossible movies he was smart and noble enough to always surround himself with the best actors, American and international names, that he could afford. From Jon Voight to Thandie Newton to Anthony Hopkins to Philip Seymour Hoffman to Paula Patton to Lea Seydoux to Jeremy Renner to Alec Baldwin to Angela Bassett to Henry Cavill right at the peak of his fame as Superman and many more. Cruise got the best stars willing to share the screen along side him to put on the best action-packed thrills they could create. Only Ving Rhames would last alongside Tom Cruise throughout all eight movies and he became a friendly face to audiences in each one similar to Desmond Llewelyn as Q throughout the majority of the 007 pictures. So now here we are and now that the allegedly final Mission: Impossible movie has come to pass it is time to rank this movie franchise from worst to best.

8. Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning (2025)

The last was sadly the worst. This movie starts off promising and then like the worst films in this series it turns into the Tom Cruise loving himself show but this time it is Cruise stroking his own ego for nearly three hours. The lowest point of the series is probably the scene with an over 60 year old Cruise wrestling another guy while wearing nothing but his undies. His showboating in this final film was the final straw for me and maybe a stronger director or another producer could have kept his ego in check for the franchise finale. Plus this series has proven that AI, at least how it was handled in the Mission: Impossible movies is not a very compelling villain. It worked for Stanley Kubrick but fails miserably here. The inane dialogue from the seventh film carries over into this one with a lot of talk about “the entity” as overly dramatic as possible. The action scenes were good, the main one involving a bright yellow tiny plane was an allusion to the famous ‘Little Nellie’ aerial sequence from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967). It was nothing special and a lackluster sendoff for an otherwise consistently entertaining action series that overall deserves comparison to the 007 franchise. It was nice how they referenced all the previous films and brought back characters/actors from the original. Other than a few small moments this was a tedious and not as much fun as the best Mission: Impossible movies should be.

7. Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Some good stunts are squandered by the worst dialogue of the entire series. Like all the others it contains fantastic action sequences and stunts but when the scenes in between the action are so ludicrously written it is tough to have any emotional stakes in the big set pieces. Also, at two hours and forty-three minutes it suffered the same exhaustion as the eighth film in the series and the unfortunate trend of all movies just being too long for their own good. This movie has less memorable stunts than the final film but at least it does not drag on as much as that one does. The only reason it is ranked second worst.

6. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Ironically this is the movie that established the team Tom Cruise would be surrounded by for the rest of the series yet sadly, this more than the previous two films felt more like the Tom Cruise show and how he is the center of attention to save the day. This is also the movie that set the franchise on the course that it was on for the rest of the series and where it became more successful than anyone would have imagined resulting in eight feature films. Simon Pegg and Michelle Monahan joined the cast and several other actors would remain stalwarts as part of his crew throughout the remainder of the series. Billy Crudup appears in a thankless role and Philip Seymour Hoffman gives an unusually weak performance as the villain. He is one note, barely raising his voice trying to sound threatening but coming across as phoning it in. A far cry from the previous time he shared the screen with Tom Cruise in Magnolia and both gave outstanding performances during their screen time together.

5. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Often looked at as the black sheep of the franchise, Mission: Impossible II was meant to be what the series originally started out as. A chance for a different auteur to take their spin on an action movie. Well this certainly is the most different movie of the series and as the franchise continued with more films this is the one that stood out like a sore thumb even more. At the time it seemed like a winning combination. Tom Cruise continuing his action franchise with Hong Kong maestro John Woo who at the time was probably the most coveted action director to secure for this type of film. He had just crossed over into Hollywood movies a few years prior and was fresh off his biggest American hit Face/Off (1997). This would be his highest grossing film however time has not been very kind to M:I II. Some of the action scenes, like the motorcycle joust on the beach do not hold up and John Woo’s use of slo-motion and his trademark slow flying pigeons are not as warmly received as they were in his other films. Some liked that it was an updated glossy remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Notorious (1946) and gave younger audiences a chance to be introduced to a classic movie, others found it to be an inferior rip-off. Hans Zimmer composed one of the best scores for the series and used an inspired choice of music with how Cruise was introduced in the movie pretentiously climbing a mountain showing off his long flowing hair. A callback to the composers first collaboration with how he introduced Cruise in Rain Man (1988). Plus it had hit songs from Limp Bizkit riffing on the Mission: Impossible theme, and Metallica. The only time the latter ever made a song exclusively for a movies soundtrack. I wonder how much that cost Tom Cruise.

4. Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015)

The fifth entry followed the formula set in the previous films that had succeeded and did so with little originality but a lot of thrilling stunt work. This is the first film in the series directed by Christopher McQuarrie and he would go on to direct the last four Mission: Impossible movies in the series. Despite the last four films being varying degrees of quality this movie set the tone for the rest of the series. Gone was the idea that each Mission: Impossible movie would be a new directors vision with a hundred million dollar plus canvas to paint his action extravaganza. Now it was Tom Cruise’s vision we were all following and McQuarrie was the utility workman director who could get that vision on the screen with as little conflict as possible between the director and producer/star. In fact the biggest risks taken from this point on in the series all have to do with its mega star foolishly performing his own stunts, suffering injuries, and selfishly setting back the shooting schedule. Cruise does a lot of impossible feats for a man of any age but it is acceptable because this action series has always involved fantastic and unbelievable stunts. His forceful intensity often are the reason all of the action and dialogue driven the scenes in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation work.

3. Mission: Impossible-Fallout (2018)

The Mission: Impossible movie that seemed to bring the series to the forefront of a world suffering from franchise fatigue. This movie made the franchise seem like a classier, smarter, and more sophisticated option from all the Marvel and DC movies flooding the multiplexes at the time. This was a time when the usually reliable Star Wars and James Bond franchises started to stutter and Tom Cruise was there to pick up the baton and carry it mightily for audiences wanting a smarter than average spectacle. Fallout also packs an emotional punch equal to the action spectacles that make this movie stand out a cut above the rest in the series and above most action movies of its time. The stakes feel real. The emotional intensity Tom Cruise brings to so many of his best performances is on full display here and he earns all of the kudos and box office dollars it made. Some could argue that Fallout is the best of the franchise and they would not be wrong.

2. Mission: Impossible (1996)

The one that started it all still holds up as a pretty spectacular espionage thriller. Fantastic location shooting in Prague and some of the most spectacular stunts audiences had ever seen back in 1996 blending CGI and real action better than most movies did during the mid 90s. The most thoroughly satisfying Mission: Impossible movie other than just one movie that slightly edged it out for the top spot. This movie felt like an action movie that took the word impossible in its title and used it literally. The audience was treated to impossible feats being displayed on screen in a way that few other action movies had done before. The other movies would build on this and some would surpass the first movies endeavors and others would come up short. The original seemed to follow the mantra of let’s give the audiences something they think is impossible and could never happen and prove to them with the magic of movies that we can make it happen. Behind the scenes it was not a pretty picture for Tom Cruise and his first foray as a producer. The original screenplay by David Koepp and Steve Zaillian was heavily reworked by Chinatown scribe Robert Towne who had become a frequent collaborator with Cruise. This was much to director Brian De Palma’s dismay. He allegedly clashed with Cruise as well but some of his directorial trademarks like the split screen and voyeuristic camera angle shine through making this an interestingly shot 90’s action blockbuster and one of his most crowd pleasing films as well as his highest grossing picture.

1. Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol (2011)

This is the Mission: Impossible movie that solidified Tom Cruise’s place in Hollywood again and that this franchise was going to be his savior and cash cow. After struggling at the box office and in the public consciousness after the couch jumping incident and being a PR nightmare, Cruise needed to redefine his image and his film choices like Lions for Lambs (2007), Valkyrie (2008) and Knight and Day (2010) were not cutting it. He went back to his franchise that could have ended neatly as a trilogy, hired animation guru Brad Bird who was an inspired choice to direct, picked a December release date, the only one in this franchises history, and went all in with the biggest Mission: Impossible movie yet. The result was a resounding success and the best movie of the series. From the opening scene where he escapes a maximum security prison, to the elevator lobby hijinks, to scaling the Burj Khalifa, to the climactic action sequences in India, everything in Ghost Protocol works better than one might expect. This movie felt as much like an action blockbuster of the highest order as it did watching a magician perform tricks on large scale landmarks. This movie was fun, engaging, and Tom Cruise’s swagger never overstayed its welcome. He played Ethan Hunt perfectly as a veteran, cunning team leader. It was just the right amount of charisma and charm to keep Cruise at the top of the public eye but also surround himself with the perfect cast and crew to deliver an action packed thrill ride everyone who bought a ticket could enjoy. Pure escapist entertainment.