Mission: Impossible

1996 spy action movie

Rating: 13/20

Plot: A spy tries to uncover the real mole after he's suspected of being a mole.

The trailer for the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie (Number five?) made me want to see a movie that came out 19 years ago. I like a lot of what Brian De Palma's done, I don't mind Tom Cruise nearly as much as most people seem to, and I knew Danny Elfman scored this thing, so I figured I'd like it ok. And I did like it ok although a lot of my enjoyment was ruined by figuring out every single twist and turn about a mile before the big revelations. Now, I'm not trying to pretend that I'm some movie-watching genius who can usually figure out things like that because I'm not. In fact, I'm really bad at it. Usually, I can't even figure out a movie's twist even after the movie's ended. But here, everything just seemed so obvious to me. I think it's probably my fault for watching every single season of the similarly-twisty 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. I'm not sure there other actors I enjoy watching run on the screen more than Sutherland and Cruise, by the way. I don't necessarily mean that in any homoerotic way, but maybe I do. Anyway, I'm not saying anything in this was exactly spelled out, but if a guy as smart as me can figure it all out while watching it for the first time 19 years after it came out, I'm not sure the twists are very good. I enjoyed the performances for the most part. Voight's his usual dependable self. I like him because there's really nothing restrained about any of his performances although there's something about his presence that makes you think he's trying to exhibit restraint. Cruise is fine playing the sort of action character he plays. Regardless of his religious practices or off-the-field quirks, I always think he's likable on the big screen. Vanessa Redgrave is pretty good, and Jean Reno and Ving Rhames play the types of characters they're capable of playing. And how about that Emmanuelle Beart? The best scene in this is a quiet (literally quiet) heist sequence that manages to be simultaneously clever and juvenile. Things get a little goofy at the end with a big action sequence involving a train and a helicopter unfortunately, the sort of thing that's going to require you to turn off your brain. And I can't figure out why the main villain in this didn't shoot Tom Cruise when he had a chance.

Did you like how I refused to spoil the secrets of this 19-year-old movie? It would have been a shame if you read this and discovered that Jon Voight was the bad guy before watching this. You're welcome!