An intelligent action movie; not the best but fun.

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2010)

Rating: ***1/2 out of 4.
Brian De Palma's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE gets such a bad rap from both critics and fans of the series of its injustice to the source and for how the story is such a complicated mess. Even the cast of the original TV series had a bone to pick with De Palma's revision of the classic. If so, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is best viewed not as the TV series revival but as a stand-alone movie, which it actually is pretty good.
While MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is far from De Palma's best works, and it is pretty mainstream from the usually independent director, but it does boast some of his signature styles. The split screens may be gone, but the use of long takes and Hitchcockian suspense sequences (the classic CIA vault break-in is something Hitchcock would have loved to see), as well as his love for Hitchcockian elements as double-crosses, espionage, plot twists, suspicious train rides, and seeing things that are not what they seem (actually, the last one was more De Palma than Hitchcock). In the end, while it is a Hollywood product, it's still very much De Palma.
Now, stepping away from my obvious affection for De Palma's style, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is quite a good action movie, even an uncommonly intelligent one. In fact, most of the action occurs momentarily and doesn't consume the storyline as it is often in Hollywood action movies. The film's terrific set-piece, a helicopter chase and a fight on top of a speeding train rolled into one, is saved for last. The plot takes full center in this one, which is about a an operation gone horribly wrong leaving IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) framed for the death of his teammates. The rest that follows will either be confusing to write down or would reveal some of the surprises that the story holds.
The cast is quite great, but their not given all that much to do given that the movie is basically plot-driven. There's no romance in this one either which gives the film a "no mushy business" directness but a lack of any human dimension, which is why the film's midsection is quite dull (until we reach the film's now-famous CIA break-in scene). And of Still, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is great fun.