Product: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Rating: 4.0
Confusing At Times, But Never A Dull Moment
One in an endless series of cinematic translations of famous TV shows, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, based on the classic 1966-1973 series of the same name, is, however, one of the better ones, thanks to a fairly solid cast and the high-power direction of master filmmaker Brian DePalma (CARRIE; SCARFACE).Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, a member of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), an ultra-secret arm of the CIA that takes on the assignments that the CIA's regular staff wouldn't touch with a bargepole. Their newest assignment is to catch a traitor in the illegal act of downloading a secret CIA Noc-List from the U.S. embassy in Prague. But when things go horribly wrong there, and Cruise is (seemingly) the only one left alive, he learns that the operation was in fact a molehunt designed to catch a turncoat inside the IMF's midst. The result is a fast-paced, suspenseful rocket ride of a film with many brilliant set-pieces, all under DePalma's concise direction and with a fine script by David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK) and Robert Towne (CHINATOWN).Though, like many espionage-oriented films, it can be confusing on occasion, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE scores thanks to the sheer skill of the way the story is laid out for us. Jon Voight essays the role of Jim Phelps that Peter Graves had on TV, but the rest of the roles are all new (nobody from the series even has a cameo role). However, despite the casting changes, some things remain the same, like the opening title sequence and Lalo Schifrin's tense and taut theme music, adapted by Danny Elfman (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, "The Simpsons"). Cruise does a very good job under DePalma's supervision, as does Voight; and Henry Czerny, who had played the CIA heavy in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, basically reprises that role in the guise of CIA director Gene Kittridge with unctuous exactness. The scene of Cruise downloading the NOC list from the IMF mainframe computer at CIA headquarters while suspended from the ceiling is one of the most tension-filled sequences in cinematic history, thanks to DePalma's crafty decision to film it using only natural sounds; and the final sequence in the Chunnel is just as hair-raising.With so many twists and turns, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, despite some flaws, is never dull for a single moment. It is a great "blockbuster" film--entertaining and well-crafted all at once, and vigorously recommended.