Wonderful Ideas, Poorly Executed

Rating: 6/10 (19 July 2018)

"Mission: Impossible" has some great moments, lots of fantastic ideas, but quite a bit of weak execution. It has also not aged well at all.
-Analysis of Notable Work- *Writing/Directing: The story is relatively engaging throughout most of the film, but the twists seem more forced than they need to be. Brian De Palma knows how to direct action, but does not do as well with drama and suspenseful twists. *Cinematography/Editing: These are two of the weaker aspects of the film. Stephen H. Burum is a capable cinematographer, but he does not prove that with this film. Much of the film looks like home video. The editing is also quite weak with many cheesy moments. *Dialogue/Acting: The entire flow of the film feels a bit off. The dialogue is classless and thinks it is much more clever than it is. The delivery does not help, either. Tom Cruise holds his own, but much of the supporting cast is less than impressive. Even Jon Voight delivers a sub-par performance. *Music/Sound Design: While iconic, the soundtrack is not powerful or helpful in the film. The main theme is recognizable, but that is about all that can be said about it. The sound design is yet another less than average part of the film. It does not feel as grounded as it should. Everything seems to be over the top. *Production Design/Special Effects: The set design, costumes, and props are all a bit boring. Some of the gadgets are interesting, but they do not make up for the poor effort of the rest of the film. The special effects are not yet mastered in this film. It all feels rather cheap.
*Conclusion: "Mission: Impossible" feels like a testing of the waters for modern spy films. They have not yet figured out how to pull it off, but they are still working on getting acclimated to the water temperature.