Product: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Rating: 4.0
Very good cinematic adaptation of the TV series.
Brian De Palma's excessive cinematic style actually suited the larger-than-life nature of the show quite well. Aside from his inexplicable addiction to the I-camera, one of the most distracting and overrated camera techniques around, his visualization of Mission: Impossible is cinematic, grand, and very exciting.Tom Cruise makes for a good action hero and Jon Voight a slyly effective supporting character -- unfortunately, as the script stands, it gives the excellent supporting cast very little to do -- the divine Emmanuelle Beart gets little more than an object-of-desire role; Kristin Scott-Thomas holds up well but doesn't get enough screen time to develop her character; and Emilio Estevez, Jean Reno and Ving Rhames are all relegated to nearly bit parts, each serving his purpose well but given little chance to excel beyond that.That said, still an effective action thriller, commendably low on the violence quotient, with a twisty plot that would take a while to absorb. Lapses in logic and inconsistencies in character are forgiveable when De Palma lets the jaw-dropping set pieces roar.