They’re the same, but different.
TheMission: Impossiblefranchise is defined by its lack of obvious definition.
Compare the first six films starringTom Cruiseas Ethan Hunt to the other series that define modern Hollywood.
Until the sixth entry, there was no serialized narrative, and there are no recurring parameters.
No Voldemort, no Tatooine, no Thanos, no dinosaur-inhabited islands off Costa Rica.
There is noMission: Impossiblemythology, and it’s not really a “cinematic universe.”
Characters reappear, but the plots generally ignore each other.
Since Tom Cruise never really ages, you could almost watch them out of order.
Cruise, the star-producer, used to insist on hiring a new director for each movie.
But the magic of theMissions is their execution.
What makes these very similar movies so very different?
The Cruise Factor, or how the films deploy Cruise’s star persona.
And the Villains, each underwhelming in their own special way.
No, the best part ofGhost Protocolis the moment right before Cruise’s climb begins.
Or maybe it’s more accurate to callGhost Protocolthe Post-Apocalyptic Sequel.
Everything is breaking down inGhost Protocol.
Messages don’t self-destruct.
The mask machine is on the fritz.
The result is a $145 million globe-trotting blockbuster about the virtues of just winging it.
(Come on, Hollywood!)
That’s just the first surprise in this minor-key blockbuster built on throwback pleasures.
McQuarrie clockworks a host of memorable set pieces, from a nightclub scuffle to the centerpiece road-to-water-and-back-to-road-again prisoner heist.
It’s more than sheer spectacle,though what a spectacle.
Falloutearned more than any film in the franchisemore than any film Tom Cruise has ever madeand earned general acclaim.
Its placement at No.
3 can only feel punitive.
I don’t mean it that way.
I really love five of these movies!
Sure, there are explosions, and gunshots, and a helicopter-versus-train climax that hasn’t aged well.
It’s all maybe one set piece away from perfection.
Still, here’s a snapshot of a moment when big dumb blockbusters were smaller and smarter.
5.M:I 2
Bigger and dumber, and bigger and dumber.
(His only supplies: A couple carabiners, and perfect hair.)
or subtle storytelling (the evil virus is called Chimera, the antidote is called Bellerophon).
The sheer swoony indulgence of the movie is its own reward.
Like a lot of post-Matrixblockbusters, the sequel hasn’t aged well.
Seriously: That hair!
He’s retired and happily engaged; he only comes back to work for a this-time-it’s-personal rescue mission.
(Abrams initially pitchedAliaswith the question “What if Felicity were a spy?”
and so it’s appropriate that, in his first movie,Felicity actuallyisa spy.)
The problem with this is simple:I’m not sure Ethan Hunt is reallysupposedto be human.
One scene rocks: I’d put the Vatican City infiltration in the franchise’s top five set pieces.
Abrams was still a big-screen newbie, though, and the early aerial chase sequence feels choppy.
There is one immortal moment: Tom Cruise doing casual small talk.
