MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
A film review by Ife Hsu
Copyright 1996 Ife Hsu
(Paramount Release 1996) Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Emmanuelle Beart (sp), etc. Director: Brian DePalma Running Time: 1:55h
(*** out ****)
Overview: Motion feature based on TV series about a covert team assigned to ultra-secret missions revolving espionage, theft, security bleaks, etc. Movie version focus on the demise of this team as it faces an unknown double-crossing agent who aims for personal gain/objectives. It is a cat-and-mouse chase as agents of the covert team try to capture invisible enemy while battling own agency who has diswowed their membership.
Brian DePalma's Mission Impossible is desperately trying to replace Twister as the summer blockbuster for 1996. Given recent string of disasters (Bonfire of Vanities, Raising Caan, etc.), DePalma tries his best to strenghten a somewhat predictable plot with hair-raising special effects and a variety of technical gadgets. But above all, this is Tom Cruise's show. As an actor, Cruise has proven that he can carry a movie, but he is also a co-producer. Finally, Paramount's marketing ploy has made this film as anticipated as Jurassic Park or possibly Batman (1989).
There are really three 'Mission Impossible' shows: Setup, Comeback, Survival-of-Fittest.
In the Setup, the team is assigned to gather irrefutable proof for the capture of an international spy trying to steal a secret list containing names of field agents. Without revealing the outcome, I will only say that this Mission Impossible has other predictments involving the Agency itself.
Comeback is the attempt from the agents to find a solution to the problems caused in the Setup. The solution requires another Mission Impossible. This sequence brings the best suspense moments in the movie. Suffice to say that Cruise does stretch his acting and body in this sequence.
As a conclusion, Survival-of-Fittest proves once again that plausibility is not a given in Hollywood. The infamous train sequence is truly awesome and eye-catching, and totally unbelievable. As Cruise goes to capture his invisible enemy, he defies the laws of Physics and Human Conditioning.
Two sad notes: The female protagonist (newcomer Emmanuelle Beart (sp)) shows very limited acting range. Her role was already small compared to Cruise, but she was easily dismissed even in key moments. The plot is rather predictable. Like its TV counterpart, clues are given out during the movie, but it took no genius to determine the identity of the secret agent as well as the Setup sequence. It is sad to say that the expression given by Ms. Beart revealed all the mistery at that time.
Despite plot weaknings and uneven acting, I do recommend this movie as a lighthearted summer diversion as it should be.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews