Mission: Impossible

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emanuelle Beart
Director: Brian de Palma

Back before Bourne Legacy was about to be released, I watched The Bourne Trilogy in order to acquaint myself with the franchise. Despite catching it on television a lot of times, I never really understood it because I had no idea what was happening. After watching the trilogy in one day, I was utterly surprised. It was great! I had found this new love for Jason Bourne and now when I see it on TV, I can watch it knowing that I understood what was going on. So by that time, I was skeptical of Legacy because it can only be one of two: it can be as awesome as the Damon trilogy, or it can be so bad that it ruins the trilogy. I watched it, and it wasn't so bad, but I preferred the Damon trilogy. Another line of movies that I haven't seen is the Mission Impossible series, embarking on the movie wagon during the fourth movie. I quite enjoyed Ghost Protocol that I faced a similar dilemma to my Bourne dilemma. I haven't seen the first three movies, so the outcome could only be one of the same two things. But wrapping this story up, I watched the first installment of Mission Impossible, and it was a great start, although I found it too short (and wished it was longer, it felt like it ended abruptly).

The movie starts in the beginning of the action, where Ethan Hunt and his team were tasked to prevent a diplomat from stealing a NOC list. It's a list that contains the code names of the agents, as well as their real identities; release of the list to the wrong organizations could threaten the existence of IMF agents. When his team, and the diplomat turns dead, it is revealed that it was a mole operation, and the IMF suspects that Hunt was the one selling the list to an identity known as "Max". In order to clear his name, Hunt must now find who the real mole is and who he is selling to.

It was executed simply enough, but it had limited action bits. The only big action scene was during the last act, which, if thinking about it, leaps out from the pacing of the first parts of the movie. It had a simple plot, and it wasn't set to be complicated, as everything unfolded into place in terms of a flashback. I think it was fine that it started out small, but it really was too short for an action flick. Still it provided a great avenue for the future three installments.

Tom Cruise wasn't physically challenged as much as his other action movies, but Mission Impossible offered some thrilling scenes. I particularly liked the temperature-sensitive room scene, as it looked so elaborate and one simple mistake could have cost them the mission. It also boost a great supporting  cast, particularly with Jon Voight and Jean Reno at the line up. It would have been better though, if it was elaborate and they had more participation. 

All in all it's a great opening to the franchise. It's not too risky, as opposed to starting really big but not making any money back. At the same time, it has just enough to keep the viewers interested and wanting more, which is a big deal when it comes to blockbuster flicks. I have yet to watch the next two movies (but I haven't been hearing good things, so the fourth must have been a franchise-saver) but I think I'll be seeing them soon.