Product: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Rating: 5.0
Much better than the sequel
After recently viewing the very disappointing sequel to M:I, I took a look back at this movie, watched it, and thought how M:I 2 could have been. What if, instead of John Woo, Brian DePalma had returned, and we had actually gotten a decent story! It's a good question, but I'm not reviewing M:I 2. I'm reviewing M:I.While the acting for the most part is sub-par (even though Cruise's performance is pretty damn good), the story is what really sets this movie apart from the usual Bond-clone. You don't know who the enemy is until the end, which leaves you in suspense for quite a while. When you realize who it is, you find out that it all makes sense. The movie may take about 5 viewings before you can truly understand it, and even then it's quite confusing. But the movie is always enjoyable, especially the last few scenes.But what really got me into this movie is it's revolutionary impact on the spy movie genre. Instead of focusing on girls, guns, and gagets, this movie focused more on the stealth issue always apparent in the original M:I series. And you cannot beat the CIA break in or the Train scenes. They are simply some of the greatest ever produced.