Mission: Impossible (1996)

I’ve come to find it refreshing to have no connection to certain films’ source material. My only connection to Mission: Impossible is that I know the theme music from the TV show. With no limitations or biases getting in the way of processing this film for what it is, I can say with a clear conscience that this film is convoluted but very entertaining.

Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, a member of the top secret Impossible Missions Force (IMF), whose team is wiped out during a botched mission to intercept a data file that contains the aliases of many undercover operatives around the world. The job, it turns out, was a setup to draw out a suspected mole. As the lone survivor of his team, the government brands him a traitor and Hunt is thrust into his most difficult mission yet- clearing his name.

If you boil it down to its framework, Mission: Impossible is a spy thriller built around three scenes- the opening job gone wrong, the Langley job (where Cruise dangles in mid-air by a harness), and the climactic train sequence. That’s really all you’re going to remember and for good reason. The job is the only thing that matters; it’s the payoff. All the planning and exposition that comes before each job only exists to help the job itself make sense. The filmmakers may have gone overboard on a few things but it’s all still great fun to watch.

Just like its main character, Mission: Impossible succeeds through a combination of coincidence, luck, and skill. You can debate which ingredient is in greater supply all you want, but all three are in there. Your opinion on this matter depends on your level on cynicism and your ability to not overanalyze a summer popcorn flick.

I liked Vanessa Redgrave’s character. It was a nice twist for a sought-after international criminal to be female. James Bond has the market on egomaniacal men, so kudos to the filmmakers for not being lazy there. Unfortunately, this break from stereotype doesn’t make up for a weak motive by the shadows-lurking villain who’s been trying to frame Ethan Hunt all along.

All things considered, Mission: Impossible is the kind of movie you say ‘sure, why not’ to. It’s nothing to get too excited about but it’s always fun to watch those three tent-pole scenes play out. It will never be considered a classic but it fills the hearts of people my age with nostalgia for the early to mid-90s, when there was still a middle ground between awesome and suck for summer blockbusters.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Our culture has been becoming lazier for quite a while now and it is evident in the fact that people would rather sit and watch a movie based on a book rather than read the book itself. With movies, people don’t have to process as much information, or spend as much time getting through the story as they would with the book. As a result, they miss out on all the tiny intricacies that make reading books far superior than watching their movie counterparts. Case in point- The Da Vinci Code.

The most talked about book since Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code is very well written, expertly paced and has lots of neat little tidbits that were simply intriguing to millions (whether they were true or not). The problem with turning such a book into a movie was that the film could either be lacking in the little things that pressed the mind onward, or it could be overfull of them and drag the movie down. The former turns out to be the case.

Without much of the non-verbal elements in the book, character histories are reduced, and the reasons for their actions are left vague because we don’t know what’s motivating them as much as we would had we read the book. It also doesn’t help that they completely changed the ending! Well, not completely, but it’s leaps and bounds different from the book.

And for all the hoopla that the book and ensuing movie caused amongst hard line religious folk, the movie certainly isn’t going to change anyone’s minds about their faith. At least no thinking people will.

Basically, this movie ultimately served two core audiences- those who are too lazy to read the book, and those who want to get up in arms over the story’s content. Evidently, it’s more socially acceptable to go overboard protesting a movie than it is a book. Anyway, for those who read the book, it’s a fairly decent rendition of a very good story, though it won’t be heralded as superior to its source. While a largely forgettable affair, The Da Vinci Code is still pretty good popcorn entertainment but by no means necessary given the quality of the book.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5