Mission: Impossible

  Its taken me about... 6-7 viewings to wrap my head around the plot. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you're gonna wanna read this whole thing. Spoilers and all. Because, lord knows, if I had a plot synopsis in front of me while watching this the first few times, I might've enjoyed it more. Mission Impossible's biggest fatal flaw is its severely overcomplicated plot. Its biggest strength is that you're so caught up in the relentlessly paced espionage thrills, that something you had a question about 10 minutes earlier, is now rendered completely irrelevant.
 
  First off, the plot. Ethan Hunt is our main man. The point man of an IMF team, (impossible missions force) and him and his team are sent to Prague to apprehend a traitor who plans to steal and sell to the higest bidder, a CIA 'NOC' list. Its a computer document that contains a list of all the real identities of every undercover agent... in the whole world I suppose. Anyway, the whole operation goes tits-up and Hunt is the last man alive. It turns out, the list that the traitor stole was a fake. The whole thing was an internal mole hunt, and the whole thing is hung on Ethan as being a traitorous mole. So, now disavowed and,on the run from his own agency he plans to find the person who set him up. "How?" you might ask, by stealing the real NOC list of course and using it as leverage to find out who the real mole was.

  I'm pretty sure I got all that right. Some of the details may be fuzzy, even after I've just watched it, but you always get the impression that something intricate and important is going on. The story climaxes in areas where the suspense and tension come to a head in exciting sequences like the heist of the real NOC list, and the massive climax at the end involving a speeding bullet train and a helicopter. The runtime inbetween never feels dull, because there hardly is any down time. Its 'GO' from the start, and it hardly lets up. Its one big climatic event after the next. In a lesser movie, all of the problems would have been solved with gunfights and painful car chases, and while if done right, thats perfectly fine and just as entertaining, but Mission Impossible has too much class for that. And at certain moments... it has echoes of classic and timeless spy/thriller noir. The rest of course is cutting edge stuff (for 1996).

  As a big spy thriller, Mission Impossible succeeds on all counts. It has a great cast with the likes of Jean Reno, Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, and of course... Tom Cruise. Its a slick action vehicle that doesn't let up, and keeps a breakneck pace, too fast to pause even for a minute... even when you're stuck scratching your head, confused as all can be. This could be a major drawback for some, but for others, they keep pace with the film, letting it play out, and enjoying each scene as it skillfully unfolds.
Total action packed fun. Highly reccommended that you choose to accept this mission... but, of course, not without some tasty popcorn at the ready.