Ranking every Mission Impossible film

 

Mission Impossible is the rare case of a franchise which has no bad film over the course of six films, the franchise has been running for over 25 years and doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon and all of this is possible due to brilliant team behind the scenes and the dedication of Tom Cruise that no one in the industry possesses. That is why I'll ranking every Mission Impossible film to this date.


5. Mission Impossible II

I mean, we all see it coming. Mission Impossible II is mostly considered to be the worst in the franchise, but does that mean it's a bad film...NO. Mission Impossible franchise has set such high standards for film-making that even their worst film is quite watchable, Mission Impossible II can be considered a pretty average movie with decent plot and some great Hong-Kong'ey' action due to the film being directed by John-Woo. You can easily watch this film one-time and be content with what you were shown since this film contains some beautiful action sequences(As expected) and overall it's a pretty decent 6/10 film. And after this film, every film in the franchise can be considered really good to perfect. Many people consider to be it better than Mission Impossible I when they watch it in succession due to it's flashy action but when you consider the film as an ensemble of the entire franchise then it is the worst in my opinion. The highlight action set piece was when our antagonist attacks Ethan Hunt with a knife and it literally stops inches before Ethan's eyes and this was real, Tom Cruise literally had a knife inches before his eyes and one little mistake could lead to his acting career being finished and the surprising thing is that this scene wasn't even in the screenplay. John-Woo said in an interview that the antagonist was intended to attack the knife on Ethan's chest but Tom Cruise was adamant on making it as dangerous as possible and that's some dedication.

AWARD: BEST HONG-KONG ESQE FILM OF THE FRANCHISE 

4. Mission Impossible I

There's nothing really wrong with this film. The villain is decent for 1996, the action is iconic and though the finale set-piece might seem bonkers but is still a lot of fun, you have got sweet spy gear that we all want and love and you have got the added bonus of the film being a really great spy film as well. Overall a really solid 7/10 movie. Brian De Palma did a really good job introducing us to the never-resting IMF agent Ethan Hunt and Tom Cruise brilliantly encapsulates the madness of Ethan. The highlight action set-piece has to be the CIA breaking-in scene.

AWARD: ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC SET-PIECE OF ALL TIME

3. Mission Impossible III

Apparently this was the film that sparked people's interest back into this franchise and this is completely justified considering how this film has the best one-film villain of the franchise in the form of Owen Davian who's brilliantly portrayed by late Philip Seymour Hoffman who just exudes bad-ass ness and you feel that this is the type of antagonist you wouldn't like to pick a fight with. JJ Abrams really shined in his movie directorial debut by forming a really great story along with great action set-pieces(as expected) and he caught my attention in the opening scene which is the most dark opening to this franchise. The film is a solid 8/10 and the highlight action set-piece has to be the highway scene which is pure adrenaline and this is only due to dedication to realism by Tom Cruise who fired the original producers of the film because they wouldn't let him do his own stunts and became producer himself.

AWARD: BEST ONE FILM VILLAIN OF THE FRANCHISE

2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird had great challenge since this was his first venture into live-action movies since his previous works included Disney-Pixar's 'Ratatouille' and the iconic 'The Incredibles' but boy does Brad Bird soar with flying colors with making one of the best film in the franchise due to it's great psychotic villain and one of the best action set-piece along with a perfectly paced and greatly written story. This film made everyone wonder what bonkers stunt Tom was going to do in his next film, the highlight action set-piece has to be when Tom Cruise actually climbed the tallest building 'Burj Khalifa' with nothing but a single-rope holding him and no secondary safety below. The sound-track too is brilliantly composed by Michael Giacchino who build on his own composition of Mission Impossible III. Overall a solid 9/10 and it was tough for me to rank the top 3 because all of were great in their own sense

AWARD: BEST COMEDIC FILM OF THE FRANCHISE

1. Mission Impossible: Fallout AND Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation


 

Both of these films rank equal for me since M:I Fallout has brilliant cinematography along with the best action set pieces of the franchise but where it lacks for me are the twists in the film since I was able to know before-hand which character was wearing a mask whereas M:I Rogue Nation has one of the most crisp story-lines. Overall both of these films are a solid 9.5-10/10 and Christopher McQuarrie did a great job in matching his insanity with that of Tom. Chris showed his prowess as a great director and screenplay writer(Which he had already showed glimpse of with writing great films like Valkyrie, Usual Suspects and directing Jack Reacher), Joe Kramer and Lorne Balfe did a great job in composing Rogue Nation and Fallout respectively

Highlight action set-piece for rogue nation has to be when Tom Cruise was actually dangling on the side of a airplane without CGI with nothing but one rope as safety and other scene has to be when Tom Cruise learned to hold his breath for up-to 6 minutes for a sequence that could have been done on CGI but Tom refused and other scene was Tom driving at an Moroccan Highway with no helmet at bonkers speed without any safety

Highlight action set-piece for Fallout are many  

1. Him learning to fly a helicopter and doing a nose-dive which he did for real which was such a dangerous stunt that many experienced helicopter drivers are afraid to do, dropping from an helicopter, climbing the helicopter after being dropped all while doing this Tom had to act as well

2. Tom driving in Paris at high speed without helmet

3. Him being the first actor to do a HALO jump on a movie

4. That bonkers chase between one of the antagonist and Ethan

5. Bathroom fight scene

AWARD: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT GETS THE BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD AND THE BEST ACTION SET-PIECE AWARD

AWARD: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION GETS THE BEST STORY AWARD
 if I had to pick one then I would probably pick Rogue Nation due to it's crisper story but that view might not be forever and I might change sides later.

CONCLUSION:

This is one of the rare franchise where each movie gets successively better with each of it's entry and keeps the ante up and it's due to dedication by Tom Cruise who refuses to do stunts on CGI or by the use of stunt double and that is the reason why he's one of the best action stars in the industry right now even at an age 58 and he doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon