Ranking the Mission: Impossible Series

You can make the argument that four of the 8-movie Mission: Impossible franchise are the best. What other 8-movie series can you say the same? After lighting the wick and cueing Lalo Schifrin’s infamous introductory theme, I recently viewed Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and reranked my worst to best list to this tremendous action-thriller series. Please enjoy and tell me what you think!

8. Mission: Impossible II (2000) Slo-mo shots of Tom Cruise’s long, luscious hair blowing in the wind to slo-mo shots of over-stylized violence only pretentious Director John Woo knows best—this is the essence of the second installment of the series. By far, I consider this the worst one. It is ostentatious muck with actually minimal action and a whole lot of unintended laughs.

7. Mission: Impossible (1996) It’s odd how the 3.5-billion-dollar action-adventure series began with Brian De Palma’s Hitchcockian touch and probably the most emphasis on espionage than any of the other movies in the franchise. Unfortunately, it ended up reeking of an expositional steam pile with whodunits abound. The plot evolves into silly, convoluted territory, especially during the melodramatic boxcar scene that De Palma apparently wanted to cut. But, when you work with two prominent Hollywood writers in Robert Towne and David Koepp with two opposing conclusion ideas, you’re in for a mess of “ah-ha!” unmaskings.

We all remember the best scene in the movie: the silent catapult vault remains ingenious, almost perfect, and an icon for the rest of the series to follow. The bead of sweat dripping on to Cruise’s glove as his muscles ache for one more second to be pulled away from a temperature-induced alarm system is still jaw-dropping, and the reason to see this movie today.

6. Mission: Impossible III (2006) Philip Seymour Hoffman as the soulless villain and the quest to humanize Ethan Hunt are grounds for enjoying the shaky cam flares and vision of Star Wars-beloved, Director J.J. Abrams. This is the darkest one, and it puts Ethan in tight spots that seem impossible to get out of, bringing back the traditional promise in the title. Mr. Hoffman, you are missed.

5. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Until they run a Hallmark movie on a congenial family of Scientologists who donate their money to the American Mental Health Counselors Association, I hesitate to admire Tom Cruise’s off-screen lifestyle.

On screen, however, I think Mr. Cruise demonstrates an extraordinary work ethic in body maintenance, film production passion, and international appeal. He lives and breathes movies, earning his spot as a Hollywood blockbuster icon.

Now at age 62 and in his final performance as Ethan Hunt, Cruise is hellbent on ending the franchise right. For the most part, he does. You just have to get through the bloated, self-serious exposition involving an invisible cyberspace antagonist (who’d rather be Philip Seymour Hoffman).

The lung-exploding submarine sequence and g-force-defying bi-plane stunt are astounding, but humor, sidekick charm, romantic interest, and an editor are sorely missed.

4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) The Burj Khalifa scene. Period. It is simply awe-striking. Director Brad Bird of previous animated hits (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) has Tom Cruise hanging off the world’s tallest building in vertigo shots that induce out-loud gasping. Oh, and add an epic dust storm in there for good measure! The sidekick camaraderie of Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg is refreshingly funny, but this chemistry doesn’t take off as lithely as in the next three installments with Ving Rhames.

3. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) proves that the older Tom Cruise gets (56 at the time) and the more he does his own stunts, the more he and his franchise can sore above computer generated tropes, superheroes, and James Bond. From doing all the helicopter flying, abs ripping, and rooftop leaping, Tom sacrifices his body, including an ankle injury that delayed filming production for six weeks. Fallout tends to wear emotion on its sleeve as if it is the last of the series, but we all knew that wouldn’t be the truth.

2. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I (2023) Where Harrison needs to hang up the hat and join a support group on acceptance, Tom needs to throw on another parachute and speed-fly through more franchise contracts. The pithy espionage/high-octane action formula not only still works, it goes to eleven quite gracefully. Gravel-voiced exposition and a Hans Zimmerman/Dark Knight wannabe score occasionally take the reins from the reason we watch this series (Mr. Cruise), but when Tom defies gravity and CGI cheating, the result is popcorn overconsumption approved. The Roman handcuffed car chase scene and Orient Express boxcar cliff denouement are riveting. Oh yeah, 61-year-old Tom Cruise speed-flies on to a train in the Alps too.

1. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) introduces us to the slick femme fatale of Rebecca Ferguson and a slimy villain in Sean Harris; it places Tom in an underwater file chamber sequence that couldn’t go any more oxygen-suckingly wrong (I made up a word there), and it includes the riveting Vienna State Opera scene where Ethan Hunt (quietly) takes down an assassin with a bass flute sniper rifle to the climax of Puccini’s Turandot’s “Figlio del cielo.” Film composer Joe Kraemer even intertwines the “Nessun dorma” motif into the score throughout the movie. Brilliant, funny, and non-stop thrilling!

There you have it. There’s a part of me that doesn’t think these are the final credits, but even if they are, Mission: Impossible will remain my favorite movie series of all time.

How would you rank them? What’s your favorite of the series?

Thank you for reading!

Best,

Reely Bernie