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What Makes Mission:Impossible So Great
With Mission: Impossible: Fallout coming out later this week (and getting very good reviews), I wanted to take a look at what makes these movies so good and what has given them the ability to stand the test of time.
To start off, Tom Cruise is always a box office draw. He is the eighth-highest grossing actor of all time in the U.S. box office. Out of those ahead of him, five are part of some of the top-10 highest grossing franchises ever, which easily add to their personal totals. But Mission: Impossible only has the 20th highest gross. So this means Cruise even draws large crowds for his non-M:I projects, showing his personal popularity.
Three years ago, Business Insider argued that Cruise is the last remaining movie star. And that very well may be true. Stars like Chris Pratt and Robert Downey Jr. can’t even draw huge crowds all on their own. They are usually attached to larger franchise names, such as Marvel or Jurassic Park. But Cruise does it by star power alone.
Speaking of Tom Cruise, part of what makes him so endearing is his penchant to do everything he needs to do to make a movie good, especially in M:I. He is known for his ridiculous stunts that he does without a double. All he wants to do is entertain his audience as he states in this interview. The biggest set pieces in this franchise include the likes of Cruise climbing a rock face with no harness, holding onto the side of an airplane as it takes off, and now incredible helicopter stunts. He became an expert helicopter pilot so that he would be able to be the pilot in Fallout. This is just showing incredible dedication to his craft and to these films specifically, and audiences seem to appreciate it. I know I do.
But these movies have so much more going for them than just Tom Cruise. For one thing, they have strong female characters, which is refreshing to see. Other popular spy franchises, like James Bond, always have a damsel in distress or a female character that acts simply as a love interest. Instead, there are characters like Lindsey Farris, Zhen, Jane Carter, and of course, Isla Faust.
The best part about this is, other than in M:I 2, Ethan Hunt isn’t romantically involved with any of them. In fact, he gets married in the third movie, taking an outside love interest off the table. So many action or spy movies get bogged down by the main character seducing, or being seduced by, someone and it often detracts from the story. It can be a crutch for the writer to put in there because they know that people enjoy seeing those visuals. So it is refreshing to see a franchise that regularly features strong women that are appreciated for their ability, rather than their body.
As I touched on earlier, the series also has incredible action set pieces. There are so many big budget movies coming out these days that are concerned with aliens or robots or the end of the world (like I wrote about just the other day). But M:I doesn't have any of that (well, it does have the end of the world, kind of, but in a different way). Instead, the series opts for car chases, fist fights, and casually scaling the tallest building in the world. They are just so fun, in a self-aware kind of way. The series never takes itself too seriously.
Also, since M:I 3, good comedy has been mixed in with the excellent action. Simon Pegg being added to the cast had a lot to do with this. His work in the Star Trek series and the Cornetto Trilogy have really shown his ability to be great in the action and comedy genres. But where it really worked was in Ghost Protocol (what I believe is the best installment of the franchise), when Brad Bird was called upon to direct. After J.J. Abrams made the series fun and visually exciting, Bird added the comedy portion and took the franchise to new heights. Christopher McQuarrie has taken this and run, with Ghost Protocol being along the same lines, and almost just as good.
Any entry in this series is approachable by anyone, for a few different reasons. Like I already mentioned, there are strong female characters, so the movies don’t seem like they’re just for guys, like other action movies might. Also, the humor and lighthearted tone of the later entries make them fun flicks to just sit down and watch and enjoy. Finally, each film in the series is self-contained, in an anthology series kind of way. Sometimes, long movie franchises can be intimidating to watch if you haven’t seen the previous installments. But that isn’t the case here. Anyone can come into any of the movies and enjoy themselves and follow the plot.
Now, Fallout looks to be absolutely bonkers and amazing. With returning cast members including Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, and even Michelle Monaghan, to go along with newcomers (mustached) Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett, and with a trailer that is edited better than some movies, it looks like they've hit it out of the park again.
The Mission: Impossible franchise has been around for over 20 years now, and who knows, the way Tom Cruise is going, it could be around for another 20. And if they keep churning out quality films the way they have been, I’ll be happy to have them.
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