Mission: Impossible

Starring: Tom Cruise
Director: Brian De Palma
Genre: Action
Year: 1996
Rating: 3 / 5

Despite its enormous worldwide box office success, Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible was roundly criticized upon its release in 1996. Reviewers chastised the film for failing to be true to the much-beloved television series, and they dismissed the plot as being overly convoluted and impossible to figure out. Is there any merit in these accusations? Unfortunately, yes. Is the film still an entertaining one? Fortunately, yes. Tom Cruise is a star, period. As such, he carries Mission: Impossible on his very broad shoulders, though he does get some able assistance from then-hot supporting actor Ving Rhames. Twisted plot? It might be better than no plot at all.

An underworld boss known only as Max (Vanessa Redgrave) has let it be known that she is willing to buy the top secret information contained in the CIA's NOC list. This list contains the cover names and true identities of all American agents on the loose in Europe. Needless to say, were this list to fall into the wrong hands, the very lives of these agents would be threatened. One half of the list has fallen into enemy hands, with the other half still up for grabs. Information seems to suggest that the thief will strike again, making this a task for Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) Impossible Mission team. They must stop the theft of this list and arrest the criminal masterminding the scheme.

One slight problem - the CIA suspects that there is a traitor in Hunt's team. More specifically, there is a mole who is leaking information, so, unbeknownst to Hunt, the NOC list he is protecting is not even the real NOC list. When his team's mission goes horribly awry, and bodies start mounting, all the evidence seems to point to Hunt as the operation's mole. The only way to prove his innocence is to steal the actual NOC list and offer it to Max, thereby affording him the opportunity to finally meet the true traitor. With help from disavowed agents Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), Hunt must break into CIA headquarters and pull off the most daring theft of all time.

The best thing Mission: Impossible has going for it in terms of action films is the fact that it premiered before the release of The Matrix. The action scenes were considered pretty impressive at the time, but they seem somewhat dated next to today's spectacular special effects. The plot was trashed and shredded in the press, but it may be all that sustains the film through some of its more bland moments. Without the film's many flashback sequences, it would be impossible to figure out, but sometimes it is good to keep the viewer guessing. The film is admittedly quite jumbled, and, other than Ving Rhames, the supporting case (including Oscar winner Jon Voight) is rather blasé. That leaves it up to star Tom Cruise to save the day, an impossible mission he is truly prepared to handle.

Certification: Rated PG-13 for violence.
Running Time: 110 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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