Mission: Impossible

It’s hard not to appreciate De Palma’s style and the 90s sheen in the wake of just the worst looking movies ever made coming out consistently in recent years. This thing looks like a MOVIE and my God does Tom Cruise look like a MOVIE STAR.  I’ve also come to believe that the NOC list is easily the most interesting plot driver in this entire franchise. The stakes are clear and terrifying, but ultimately they do not affect anyone outside of the spy world. It’s so much more specific of a problem than say, a virus, money, a bomb, or whatever the hell the Rabbits Foot is.  Every scene is so damn good too. Even outside the Langley Heist (one of the most iconic movie scenes of all time?) the Kittridge diner scene, recruiting the disavowed agents, the close up magic, all of it is better than anything you’d find in most other movies. Even the goofy bits like Ethan trying to find Max’s identity by searching Max.com is charming and hilarious. I kind of miss when movies had NO IDEA how the internet worked.  I used to rank this as one of the lesser movies in the franchise, and maybe I’ll put it back in that slot when I’m done with my rewatch, but coming right off of it, I think this might actually be my second favorite. 4 and 5 are great, but they’re not giving me anything that Fallout isn’t. There’s no other movie quite like this one.