Confusion: Quite Possible

Rating: 6/10 (23 August 1999)

"Mission: Impossible" gained a reputation for being a sloppily unsolvable riddle of a film, full of so many holes and turnabouts and crossed loyalties that the viewer was left more irritated than perplexed. Watching it a second time with that in mind, what was surprising to me was that all the pieces of this puzzle fit together somehow...despite a few minor plot holes and improbabilities, the basic thrust of the film retains a certain logic and solvability. What's less surprising is how little this all matters. "Mission: Impossible" remains an average film dominated a few remarkable setpieces. The film moves rather impatiently and hurriedly through its scenes of intrigue and doublecrossing (the real source of so much audience confusion) in order to set up its action scenes. Cruise overplays with admirable confidence, but this remains a good action film, but a mediocre spy film.