Mission Impossible is largely messy, but if you don't concentrate too hard and just soak up some gloriously directed and wonderfully tense moments, you'll have a great time.

Rating: 6/10 (12 August 2015)

I came out of Rogue Nation thinking "damn that was good but I think the original is still in the classic". Rewatching this now, I certainly think its the classic but by no means is it the best. There are plot holes in this movie that an aeroplane with Tom Cruise strapped to the side could fly through.
Brian DePalma has a great style of directing this film. If I ranked the top 10 Mission Impossible franchise's best scenes, I think over half would be in this movie. Its tastefully understated in many places - not too over the top, and so much the better for it. No major gun battles in this film.
Case in point, the film's iconic scene in the vault. Its so quiet the film could almost be a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The cinematography as Cruise is lowered into the vault, and Rhames whispering hoarsely and nervously sets the mood perfectly. I almost died three times watching this scene - things as simple as a rat, a bead of sweat, and someone taking a pill could create so much adrenalin-fueled stress. DePalma moves all of his pieces skilfully into position to create maximum impact.
I also give kudos to DePalma casting Academy Award nominee Kristen Scott Thomas and teen hearthrob Emilio Estevez in roles that were quickly killed off. The problem with movies these days is top billing of major stars is usually enough to spoil a movie - "boy, I wonder if Samuel L. Jackson is going to die in Captain America 2". Here, killing off Thomas and Estevez made second billed Voight's perishing believable - and his return later in the movie more shocking.
I found Tom Cruise solid in this movie - he's not the best part of it like he is in other films, but he's a solid anchor for the rest of the cast. Jon Voight is solid where the screenplay lets him be - see one scene where Phelps turns to face Hunt and approaches him like a zombie (with Hunt appropriately freaking out) only for him to give a racking cough. The cough breaks the tension and confirms that he's alive. I loved that scene a lot. Ving Rhames, Vanessa Redgrave and surprisingly Henry Czerny steal every scene they are in, with the screenplays well written dialogue dripping from their lips with sly charisma. I could hear that trio talk to each other all day.
However, Mission Impossible falls apart on its story, which has chunks carved out with wanton abandon. Jim Phelps guns down his wife not two minutes after we the audience learn that she was his partner in crime all along. Why? Because Ethan (acting of his own accord) revealed Jim's presence and she dared to speak? Notes say that a love triangle was cut out of this movie (which makes sense considering another awkwardly placed scene where Claire comes onto Ethan with no set up or payoff). DePalma should have probably realised the climax made no sense without it.
Other plot holes: - its never fully explained why they have to go into the vault whilst Donloe is out of the room. Wouldn't it be easier to land on him and neutralise him, then take your time without worrying about heat, sound or pressure? - How did Ethan so quickly put together that Phelps was the villain? If they were supposedly so close why on earth was he so suspicious when Phelps fingered Kittridge? - How on earth did Ethan contact Max? Is there some magical email server where a domain name is whatever you want it to be? - What on earth did Kittridge mean when he suggested that he and Max would work out a compromise? I thought Max was the most wanted?
Mission Impossible is largely messy, but if you don't concentrate too hard and just soak up some gloriously directed and wonderfully tense moments, you'll have a great time.