Mission: Impossible (1996)

★★★
The first installment in what would later become an action series of consistently strong output, 1996's Mission: Impossible introduces us to Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and lays the groundwork for a succession of assignments that will take Hunt all over the world to stop supervillains with mind-blowing plans for world domination. Each new entry raises the stakes. The Navy SEALs have a saying: "The only easy day was yesterday." In Hunt's world, the only easy job was the previous one. James Bond had his SPECTRE and the threat of nuclear war, but his next mission could feature a villain with modest goals, like Kananga's drug operation in Live and Let Die. The Bond films of that era could be cranked out every year because of the plentiful source material. The longer wait times between Mission: Impossible films give the writers more time to craft stories that pit Ethan Hunt against ever-increasing threats. It is no small accomplishment that the series writers keep outdoing themselves.

Our introduction to Hunt comes by way of the I.M.F., a clandestine U.S. government spy agency that accepts the jobs no one else can do. Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) is a team leader whose latest assignment—should he choose to accept it—is to prevent a rogue agent from stealing the NOC list, a database of undercover spies in Eastern Europe. The list is located at the U.S. embassy in Prague. True to the television series on which the movie is based, the movie gives us a team of talented agents with specific skills to bring to the table. Ethan Hunt is the point man. The operation seems to go smoothly until it is clear someone is aware of the team's presence. In a matter of minutes, everyone on the team is eliminated except for Ethan. What's worse, the NOC list is gone. Ethan arranges a meeting with I.M.F. boss Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) to report in. Even then, Ethan suspects there is something more sinister afoot. As the only surviving team member, Ethan is suspected of being a mole and goes on the run to solve the mystery on his own.

Back at the safe house, Ethan tries to piece together clues he picked up to determine the next steps. Kittridge provided a possible lead, so Ethan follows up on it, though his night is interrupted when Claire (Emmanuelle Béart), another agent and Jim's wife, appears. She too survived the ambush. As the only members left from Phelps's team, Ethan and Claire team up to uncover the real mole and clear their names. Their investigation leads to an arms dealer, Max (Vanessa Redgrave), who was going to buy the NOC list, though the one stolen from the embassy is useless without the second half, which is in C.I.A. headquarters. In need of additional help, Ethan and Claire recruit two disavowed I.M.F. agents in hacker Luther (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz (Jean Reno). The plan is to break into C.I.A. headquarters, steal the second half of the NOC list and hand it over to Max, and in return she will provide the identity of the mole while at the same time preventing her from getting away with the list.

This is a very tidy description of the plot, but the script by David Koepp and Robert Towne and Brian De Palma's direction muddy the waters and make the goal less clear. I had to see this twice in theaters in 1996. The movie was notorious for its density back in the day; the press coined the alternate title Mission: Incomprehensible. Without the benefit of streaming and immediate availability on video, you really had to pay to see it multiple times in the theater to be sure you caught everything. There are a lot of hidden agendas and swerves and betrayals throughout the runtime, and sometimes De Palma's own stylistic excess gets in the way, like when Ethan gives an overlong sleight-of-hand demonstration that gets silly the longer it goes. This is De Palma importing some of his signature slow-motion camera shots that he employed in Carrie and Body Double. It works with mixed results here.

Where his style works really well is the movie's centerpiece sequence—the break-in at C.I.A. headquarters. Ethan and his team must navigate a slew of barriers and security devices to access a computer station and download the NOC list. Much of this happens without dialogue. More importantly, this is one of the few times during the film when we can focus on one singular aspect of the plot. Early on, we are put on guard for possible twists at any moment, but here, during this beautifully staged heist, we have a clear idea of Ethan's plans. The year 1996 saw two movies with break-ins into secure government facilities. The other was in the Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle Eraser. While that heist was satisfactory and had some comedy in it, Mission: Impossible's slow burn approach makes it the superior of the two. The execution is not perfect, though. The script calls for a rat to enter the air ducts and possibly ruin the plan. I thought even in 1996 that the air ducts should be secure enough to keep rodents out lest they easily trip the alarm on a frequent basis.

The first entry of this series, now in its fourth decade, has its weaknesses for sure. Its thick plot is a detractor, but the movie is still enjoyable if you can appreciate the quieter moments. It all pays off. The final train chase sequence is exhilarating. Taking place in the Channel Tunnel, the chase involves a helicopter tied to the caboose with Ethan and the mole fighting on top. This is exciting stuff. Whether he knew it at the time or not, Tom Cruise planted the seed that would eventually sprout into a fruitful career extension that has permitted him to keep playing these kinds of roles into his 60s and not settle into playing a grandfather. Heck, the guy has rarely played a father (he did in War of the Worlds). Brian De Palma declined to make a sequel and would later direct Femme Fatale, which was even more impenetrable than Mission: Impossible, but he made a masterpiece out of it, so stick with what works, I say. The series has moved on without him, and it's doing just fine.

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