After nearly 30 years and increasingly larger adventures, Tom Cruise’s time as Ethan Hunt has come full circle, bringing me to want to revisit his debut with the original Mission: Impossible. While it’s always been one I considered underrated when compared to the much better sequels, there’s always been something I could never quite put my finger on about why it didn’t quite land in the upper echelons of the franchise. Now, with this latest watch, I’ve finally realized why the film is still an effective franchise starter, even in spite of a few key problems.

Developed by David Koepp and Oscar-winner Steven Zaillian, 1996’s Mission: Impossible served as a continuation of both the 1960s and ’80s spy TV shows, shifting the focus to a new Impossible Missions Force team led by veteran Jim Phelps, previously played by Peter Graves, as they attempt to prevent a CIA list of undercover operatives around the world from making it onto the black market. However, when the team is killed and the list is stolen, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is the last apparent survivor and framed for the failed mission, putting him on the run as he tries to determine the truth.

Mission: Impossible’s Plot Is Really Quite Messy

Character Motivations & Evolving Plans Become A Little Too Complicated

Given how complex the franchise often strives to be to keep audiences guessing, it’s understandable the Mission: Impossible writers would come up with twisty plots, but Koepp, Zaillian, and script co-writer Robert Towne went a little too far with this first outing. The initial setup of the plot is simple enough, with the IMF team being tasked to prevent the leaking of undercover operatives being a standard spy operation. However, once Ethan goes on the lam and starts turning to everyone from the smooth-talking arms dealer Max to disavowed IMF agents, things become murky.

One of the movie’s biggest areas of frustration is the nature of the IMF’s molehunt, which makes Ethan their target for much of the film’s runtime. In what would become a running trend for the Mission: Impossible franchise, it too often feels like the plot is being purposely manipulated to add an extra layer of cat-and-mouse to the proceedings, which also frequently makes for some very convenient run-ins with Henry Czerny’s Kittridge.

Even worse is, as Ethan’s plans evolve and reveal newer layers, the film becomes all the messier and more implausible. Granted, a high-tech spy franchise like Mission: Impossible does need to be viewed with varying suspensions of disbelief, but the first film finds itself crumbling all the more when thought about too closely. Jean Reno’s Krieger is often a shady character, but his loyalty is made all the more questionable when wondering why he had the knife out during the iconic CIA Black Vault heist, while Phelps’ villainous turn is so obvious when just looking at the preposterous nature of faking his own death.

Brian De Palma’s Direction Is Thoroughly Tense & Stylish

The Oscar Winner Makes The Movie Feel Both Big & Intimate

With eight total movies, plenty of directors have brought their own unique stamps to the franchise, and De Palma certainly delivered some great imagery in Mission: Impossible for future filmmakers to pull from. Even as the stakes in the film continue to rise and the set pieces become bigger, the Oscar winner never forgets to keep the characters in the forefront of the camera to make the film feel intimate and grounded. The face-to-face conversations between characters are particularly some of the most stylish, with the use of close-ups and Dutch angles amplifying the tension and paranoia in the scenes.

Even still, I can’t deny that De Palma, in directing one of the biggest-scale films of his career, did a remarkable job making the film’s set pieces feel appropriately large and explosive. The aforementioned Black Vault heist remains one of the most iconic Mission: Impossible set pieces for good reason, as De Palma and cinematographer Stephen H. Burum’s visual palette keeps us incredibly immersed as every potential hitch in Ethan’s plans happens, and yet he still pulls it off.

There’s A Reason Ethan Hunt Remains One Of Tom Cruise’s Best Characters

The Supporting Cast Is A Mostly Solid Bunch

Cruise has a lot of iconic movies in his filmography. Though the actual memorability of his characters in other films is a mixed bag, the original Mission: Impossible alone makes it all the more clear why Ethan Hunt is one of the Oscar nominee’s best characters. Initially introduced as a dangerously serious figure, the film quickly proceeds to showcase a nicely broad range of emotions in Ethan, including a deceptively witty side, as well as a tragic undercurrent to him that later films would expound upon.

And while the rest of Mission: Impossible‘s roster turn in solid performances, the actual casting choices are a bit more of a mixed selection. I absolutely love Jean Reno in pretty much everything I’ve seen him in, but from the first moment we see him, I have no reason to believe he’ll work in conjunction with Ethan.

Meanwhile, Emmanuelle Béart feels like nothing more than the colloquially named “honey pot” in her role as Claire rather than offering anything meaningful to both the opening and closing teams. While Ving Rhames’ Luther is bizarrely trusted by Ethan too quickly, he at least infuses more charisma into the character to make me want to like him.

Mission: Impossible is available to stream on Netflix, Peacock and Paramount+.