More To Like About This Movie Aside From The Obvious

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2015)

I can never quite figure out what makes "Mission Impossible" such a film that attracts me like it does. From the other viewers out there, the scenes that they're pining over the most include the break-in at the CIA headquarters and the chase scene at the Chunnel. These fans think that those two scenes are the reasons for seeing this movie. And though they are correct in that perspective that they are memorable scenes, but that's not the only reasons why I like "Mission Impossible". In fact there are far more better reasons why I like this movie a lot.
Why do I enjoy this movie so much you may ask? Well for starters let's start with the leading character Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Unlike James Bond, Hunt refrains from being a spontaneous trigger-happy spy, who boozes on martini's and sleeps around with any female cohort who aligns with him. In this movie, he only handles a gun just one time, but never opens fire with it. It's a shame that John Woo who took over as a direction after this one had to go in that direction in the sequel. The top dog in the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) Ethan's fight plans are smart and methodical rather than casual and slick. He doesn't just randomly kills people one by one. Another characteristic I found so attached to Ethan Hunt was his decency towards female co-workers like Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Beart) who goes as far as respects the fact that she is a married lady who happens to be married to his boss Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). In fact this spy movie doesn't have any sexual activity provided in this movie which makes it all the more refreshing. And these idiosyncrasies plus the precarious situation he's been put in, Ethan Hunt succeeds in being a relatively likable character. I'm only just observing the heart of the movie.
Many people have blasted this film for being overbearingly convoluted, but that's a misnomer. If you have meagre attention spans, you may not like a film of this magnitude or those who were expecting a plethora of exciting flashy thrills or action effects. The film's intentions are for us as a viewer to be involved with the character/s and follow through within each scene. All the scenes, set-pieces and props all flow in a very immaculate perspective. Being antsy to watch something wow will likely never happen here. You feel like part of the action with Ethan and when things start to unfold, you'll react just like the way Ethan does.
What were my favourite scenes in "Mission Impossible"? Well as much as I agree with the Chunnel chase as being very exciting, I thought the best scenes were his interactions with Phelps in the final scenes. "It was Kittredge". Phelps was so convincing, and we all know Ethan knows that's far from the truth. We see him summarizing all the events from the Prague mission in his mind. It's not that easy to contradict someone like Phelps because he's Ethan's superior. Then he asks this esoteric question, "Why..Jim Why"? Which translates to "Why would Kittridge do it, when really the question is why would YOU do it?"
It's the more deeper content of "Mission Impossible" that make this movie all the more special. This movie is not the "all style and no substance" that most viewers have complained about. But to hell with them, I won't let them deprive me from enjoying it. Even after 20 years, this movie never gets old. If anyone wishes to disagree with me feel free, but your opinions will not change my opinion about this movie.