Slick but entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 1999)

A couple of things to get out of the way before I start. First of all, I was not familiar with the TV series, so I don't have a history to compare it with like I did with, say, THE AVENGERS. This is not to say I avoided seeing it, it just was never in syndication where I happened to live, or if it was, I just never noticed it. On vacation one time, I did happen to catch a few episodes, but nothing stuck with me, except, of course, the catchphrases like "Good morning, Mr. Phelps," "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." and "This message will self-destruct in five seconds." So those who said the movie suffered when compared to the show may very well be right, I just don't know.
As for those who complained it was too confusing; with all due respect, you need to get out more. I knew who the bad guy was within the first half hour, and so all you have to do is wait for the rest of the people to figure it out.
Okay, now that I got all that out of the way; having seen this again on TV recently, first time since I saw it in the theater, I can confirm once again this is slick but still entertaining. The main problem, as one critic said up here, is that this is neither an actor's movie nor a director's movie, but a story movie, and the story doesn't allow a lot of room for either the actors or the director to move. You've got some good names here, but the only one with a character to play is Vanessa Redgrave, and she plays it beautifully(though Ving Rhames has some moments). Especially lost is Emmanuelle Beart, a great actress and the most beautiful actress in movies today, but she's all wrong for the part here. And though Brian DePalma stages some good scenes(especially, of course, the scene where Tom Cruise breaks into the computer room), he seems a little hamstrung by the plot. Maybe John Woo will do more with the sequel, I don't know. Still, it is entertaining enough. At least it wasn't like THE UNTOUCHABLES, which one critic aptly described as a beautifully wrapped package with nothing inside.