I'll start off with the caveat that I don't count myself as a "Mission: Impossible" fan. I've seen most of the later movies only once apiece, and there are several I just flat out dislike. However, when the series was good, it was good, and some of these entries definitely deserve a few kudos. So here, from best to least, are my rankings of the "Mission: Impossible" movies:
1. Ghost Protocol (2011) - It's all set pieces. And it's all set pieces orchestrated by Brad Bird, who is so great at balancing action and character and humor. There's a playfulness to this installment that works so well for me, and helps to set the franchise apart from all the other spy franchises of the time. And while Tom Cruise is indisputably the star, the team is great - Benji is promoted, Jeremy Renner's William Brandt makes a fun newbie, Paula Patton is a delight, and everybody gets their moment.
2. Mission: Impossible (1996) - The franchise kickoff is very much a '90s Brian DePalma thriller, and barely feels of a piece with the rest of the series. It's much more grounded, much more twisty, and doesn't care if the audience can keep up with it. Still, it delivered the big set pieces as well as anybody. This is also the "Mission: Impossible" movie where Tom Cruise's ego is the least on display, even though this is the first movie he produced. I wish we'd gotten a few more entries like this one.
3. Mission: Impossible III (2006) - After a nice long hiatus, this was a pleasant surprise. J.J. Abrams isn't great in the director's chair, and the script has some groaners, but what distinguishes this movie is that it has one of the franchise's truly great villains: Owen Davian, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Also, Ethan Hunt' relationship with Julia is the only romantic relationship in the series that ever really worked for me, even if it still feels like Cruise is trying too hard to seem like a human being.
4. Rogue Nation (2015) - The first of the Christopher McQuarrie directed films that set the formula for the rest of the series. It feels like it was originally planned as a grand finale or a potential handoff point to another leading man, which might be why it comes across as so celebratory and satisfying. Rebecca Ferguson makes her first appearance as Ilsa Faust, and the opera sequence is a franchise highlight. This is also the last "Mission: Impossible" film where I felt the humor worked for me.
5. Fallout (2018) - Here's where I'm going to get in trouble. I have absolutely no beef with the action sequences or the spycraft or the performances in "Fallout." This is the one with Henry Cavill and his mustache as the main villain, and he is impeccable. However, this is also the one where the attempts to sell Tom Cruise as a romantic lead were so grating that it completely took me out of the movie. Some view this as the pinnacle of the franchise, but it's when I started looking for an escape hatch.
6. Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - That title is just hilarious in retrospect. I enjoy Hayley Attwell as the new love interest, but the movie is a bore whenever it's not in the middle of one of the action sequences. Fortunately, the ones in this movie are pretty good, and especially the train crash. However, I take exception to the AI doomsday plot, which is just badly written science-fiction that doesn't feel like part of this universe. Audiences weren't pleased either, going by the box office.
7. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) - The motorcycle duel! The gratuitous slow motion with doves! Thandiwe Newton looking all winsome! Bellerophon and Chimera! It's the John Woo entry into the "Mission: Impossible" series, and it is goofy and ridiculous, and it presages a lot of the franchise's worst habits. There's Cruise already showboating shamelessly in the opening sequence. There's the gratuitous use of mask reveals. I have a soft spot for this one, but I won't pretend it's any good.
8. The Final Reckoning (2025) - I didn't like it. I think it's good that we're done for now.
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