Product: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Rating: 4.0
A Mission Worth Excepting
Sleek, stylish and bathed in rich hues, the movie based on the popular TV series far surpasses it's predecessor. Helmed by Brian DePalm, whose resume is a monument of inconsistentcy ranging from the great (Blow Out) to the not-so-great, he's the definative hit-or-miss director. And this one he knocks out of the park. Tom Cruise takes on the leading role of Ethan Hunt (adding to his credibility as more than a pretty face) and does a convincing job with a role that in less suitable hands could be viewed as one dimensional. Things get rolling early and often as the team of C.I.A. agents prepare an elaporate sting of a computer pirate looking to cash in by selling a list of undercover agents to the highest bidder. Before long the plan falls apart and Ethan finds himself the only surviving member of his team and in turn is suspected of killing the others. Though the plot is more intricate than it seems, don't be fooled (after all this is a popcorn movie). All in all it's a rip-roaring adventure with assets that far outweigh it's faults.