As I've used the pandemic to catch up to movies that I've missed, I'll tackle another action movie franchise. Much like Fast and the Furious, I have somewhat inexplicably watched the worst movies and then stopped watching them when the movies got good. Well I did see Ghost Protocol in theaters actually, but I didn't watch either of the following two movies. I have no idea both why I've seen the original M:I movie which came out when I was 3-years-old and why I simply stopped watching them recently. Mysteries that will never be answered.
This was a much easier list than both the Avengers list and the Fast and the Furious list. There is one spot on the list that I actually had trouble with, but the rest of the movies were fairly easy to rank. So let's get on with the rankings.
1. Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
I never think this about action movies. As soon as it was over, I wanted to find an excuse to watch it as soon as possible immediately. I basically had a childlike grin on my face for most of the movie. It's nonstop action, and while it has the unfortunate tendency of every other action movie to run over two hours, the movie doesn't feel long.
I did not think this would be the case. The weird thing is that I'm not even that crazy about Solomon Lane, so when the plot of this movie revolved around busting him out of prison, I did not think it would be a good decision. And Henry Cavill's character's arc was telegraphed pretty hard. But the action in this movie my god. Tom Cruise is a mad man.
2. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
The greatest decision the Mission Impossible franchise ever did was to bring Ilsa Faust, as played by Rebbeca Ferguson. She is not all that secretly a female Ethan Hunt. You could see where that might go wrong, but Ferguson is instantly compelling. Like I said above, I actually don't find Solomon Lane that great of a villain, which is weird. I'm not a huge fan of the actor's choice to deliver some of his lines in a whisper. Usually, a good action movie requires a good action movie villain, but for whatever reason, this still manages to be a good movie.
But there's only so many ways to describe my love of these movies that aren't related to the action sequences. This probably has the third best action scenes of the franchise, but I do think this movie is better than the movie with the second best action sequences. That's because this movie has the better story, the better hook. I guess I'm a sucker for the rogue agent forced to uncover the secrets that lead to his freedom.
3. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
The third movie put this movie in a precarious position, having given Ethan Hunt a loving wife, which naturally brings about the question of why he would keep doing this. The movie gets around this by having them separate, although obviously they tease for most of the movie that she got killed. Smart move not to go that direction. I feel a little unfair to Brad Bird by putting this here, because he's the man responsible for taking this franchise to new heights. It's not his fault that the next director would improve upon even that, which probably didn't seem possible in 2011.
Then there's the scene with Tom Cruise seeming to climb the Burj Khalifa with just special gloves. Obviously that's movie magic, but what incredible movie magic that was. Maybe the most stunning stunt that the M:I franchise ever pulled. And the subsequent run into the sand storm is also breathtaking. It's here because of basically Paula Patton, who is fine, but is no Rebecca Ferguson.
4. Mission Impossible
The tough decision I had was in deciding the 4th and 5th place movies. I know which is the worst movie. But this movie and the next both carry completely separate strengths and flaws. This wins out because of a tiebreaker I'll reveal for the 5th place movie. But I'll say this: no movie has aged more in this franchise than the first one. Which makes sense. It's the oldest. But this movie could have been made in the 70s. In particular, when Emilio Estevez's character gets smashed by the elevator, it really looks, well, awful. They couldn't have a shot short enough to make it not look like a dummy just got smashed.
That's just the example that stuck out in my mind, but it's reflective of most of the movie. While it is a solid, average action flick, I almost want to forgive its faults because of when it was made... before remember that it was made in 1996, and it should look better than this. The train and helicopter chase scene did start the franchise's hope to make one unbelievably impressive action scene and only because of what followed does it maybe not quite achieve that, but that's the one scene that feels like it could have only been made in 1996.
5. Mission Impossible 3
That tiebreaker? I'm not a fan of the decision to open the movie with Michelle Monaghan getting shot. And then when we catch up to that scene in the movie, having the person who got shot was actually in a mask. The masks are easily the goofiest thing about this franchise, and they seem committed to keeping that even though it's ridiculous. It's not that the masks itself are bad, it's just the decision to not have the actor in a mask, but to cast a different actor completely. Anyway, that was my biggest problem with this movie.
And like I insinuated above, I don't really think it was a good idea to give Ethan Hunt a wife, because it was never something the movies could keep. No fault given to Michelle Monaghan though. She's appropriately charming. And Phillip Seymour Hoffman manages to give off a Bond villain vibe and is fun. But that damn fakeout with her getting shot still bothers me to be honest. Not because I wanted her to die. But because of the manipulation.
6. Mission Impossible 2
Yeah this was no contest. Mission Impossible 2 straight up sucked. I did not like how this was filmed. I haven't really seen any John Woo films, but this does not leave me with a lot of confidence. The doves were ridiculous, which is I know his trademark. The slow motion, the repeat shots, Ethan Hunt's hair, all of it bothered me. I believe the first few Mission Impossible movies were planned around stunts and not with an actual script and that's never more evident than here.
Thandie Newton does what she can, but the back-and-forth between her and Hunt is sometimes painful. What they were going for here is much better achieved between Ferguson and Cruise. I know they planned on her to return (in the role of Monaghan), but I don't really blame her for not wanting to return. Anyway, this is the worst.
And there's my list. I don't expect a lot of disagreement here. It seems like people like or liked 3 a lot more than I did and I do think it's cool that JJ Abrams got the job because Tom Cruise really liked Alias, but it just doesn't work as well for me, mainly for the reasons outlined above.
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