The M:I Series

So MathSoc treated one and all to a free viewing of the first two Mission Impossible films and, never being one to pass up on a good deal, I thought I’d check it out. Here’s my assessment:

Mission:Impossible

The inaugural film of the MI series was directed by mob movie maestro Brian DePalma (of Scarface and The Untouchables) and one can see his fingerprints all over the reel: elaborate, meticulously planned action set-pieces, flashbacks, and plenty of strategy and intellect and intrigue. The first MI has comparatively far less action than its sequels; it’s a film that is more aligned with the classic Cold War spy espionage genre. A very boyish, lean, and rather geeky Tom Cruise heads the operation (much of the film consists of a bespectacled Cruise tapping away at a computer).

The greatest fault with this movie is that it’s way too damn complicated. There are way too many characters and double-crossings, and way too many intricacies of plot for my feeble mind to handle - I came in 10 minutes late for this movie because obviously I couldn’t miss Frasier, and I was already lost. Plus, I grew bored by all the hush-hush secret agent sleuthing and began to doze off when, about halfway through, Cruise & crew are busting into the CIA headquarters and he's dangling from a wire. Now the action begins!

Perhaps this is one of those films that can only be appreciated with a second viewing?


MI:2

MI:2 couldn’t be any more different from MI:1 - Hong Kong action-film master John Woo ups the cool factor in this one. The movie begins rather pointlessly, treating us to the visual spectacle of a shaggy, deeply tanned and beefed-up Tom Cruise ascending a cliff; he receives a call and promptly tosses his shades into the camera, upon which we are treated to the MI theme music - Woo ditches the classic percussion-and-brass Mission Impossible theme in favour of a revised Moby-inspired heavily rockified theme, setting the tone for the rest of the film.

The Asian influence is in ample display here: MI:2 is ripe with slow-motion martial arts acrobatics, flaming infernos, revolving cameras, Face/Off style face-switching, and The Matrix-style stunts - it’s clear this film is a relic of the Matrix-era. And aside from clichéd one-liners, Cruise doesn’t say a whole lot; his role here is to grin, look pretty, and execute crazy stunts. In fact, it’s the supporting players (heroine Thandie Newton, computer sleuth Ving Rhames, and the guy who plays the villain) who play the most pivotal roles.

MI:2 succeeds where MI:1 fails; MI:1 bores us with too much story, plot and intrigue, a relic of the bygone Cold War era – who still cares for all that Soviet KGB crap these days? Zzzz… MI:2 is exciting, fun, and substitutes action for dialogue; it’s tightly-paced from beginning to end. The storyline is about as vapid as Tom Cruise’s grin, the characters one-dimensional, but you don't need a 140 IQ to follow the plot and with MI:2’s "Whoa-did-you-see-that?!?!" stunts and awe-inducing Sydney harbour montage shots, it keeps us entertained from beginning to end.


MI:3

MI:3 attempts vainly to synthesize the spy/espionage elements of the first film with the action of the second, but doesn’t do either particularly well. As Tristan defined below, the film’s greatest weakness is the aspiration of the villain are not clearly defined. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays yet another monotonous, indifferent-to-everything guy, but he does an adequate job as the villain with the limited role he’s assigned. Unfortunately we never get to know what exactly is the rabbit’s foot, why he wants it so badly, and what he intends to do with it, and this detracts from an unlobotomized enjoyment of the film. One of MI:2’s strengths was that the villain, in fact, got more screen time than our heroes; we got to know his desires, his motivations, and there was ample time for a level of enmity to develop for the viewer to want his ass dead – in MI:2 that Sean Ambrose was one badass muthafucka.

Moreover, MI:3 does stretch the range of plausibility when Ethan’s near-delirious wife delivers the final blows. (Is this Mission Impossible or Mission Implausible?)


Summary: MI:2 > MI:3 > MI:1