Mission: Impossible may be one of the biggest film franchises going with one of the biggest stars of all time starring in it, but it comes from humble beginnings. Yes, it was a TV show that aired in the ’60s, ’70s, and then again in the ’80s, but the M:I film franchise itself began not as an action spectacle but as a risky spy thriller that no one was sure would become a hit. However, over the course of nearly four decades, the film franchise has morphed from its humble roots to one of the biggest action blockbusters around, rivaling the likes of James Bond and Jason Bourne in popularity. Of course, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt doesn’t quite have the same name recognition as those two other spies, but the series is decidedly here to stay. And with so many movies in the can, it raises the question of which Mission: Impossible film is actually the best and if any of them are actually bad movies. With that in mind, here are all of the Mission: Impossible movies ranked from worst to best.
All the Mission: Impossible Movies Ranked from Worst to Best
7. Mission: Impossible II
M:I 2 is easily the biggest outlier of the franchise, and that’s not just because of the length of Tom Cruise’s hair in the film. Coming out four years after the original movie released, the film was basically a completely different movie from the first, pulling in Jon Woo, at the height of his Wooness, to direct a movie that is so incredibly Jon Woo it’s hard to think of it as connected to the rest of the series at all. Woo definitely has a visual style, and he brings it to M:I 2 in spades almost to the complete and total detriment of the film. Unlike in Face/Off or Hard Boiled, where Woo’s penchant for slow-motion, two-handed shooting, and melodramatic directing plays into the over-the-topness of the films, here it just makes everything woefully cheesy.
It doesn’t help that Cruise’s Hunt is at his least interesting in any of the films as the movies hadn’t yet established what kind of character he was outside of a super spy, and his chemistry with co-star Thandiwe Newton is cringeworthy. The story itself is also convoluted in an attempt to match the twisting turns of the first film, and the movie’s villain comes off campy instead of threatening. M:I 2 is probably the only truly bad film of the franchise, made even more so by how dated it feels after all these years.
6. Mission: Impossible
The original M:I, released all the way back in 1996, could also be sitting at the top of the list instead of at number five. It all just depends on what kind of Mission: Impossible movie you want. However, within the context of the blockbuster action movies that the series has now become, the film slides down to the number five spot simply because it is, for the most part, not that at all.
This film, directed by Brian De Palma, is a true spy thriller with one big action sequence at the end and all the trappings of a classic noir. That should probably come as no surprise given the movie’s director and his record as one of the best neo-noir directors ever, but coming to the movie almost four decades later can be quite a shock. The steady plotting, brooding characters, twisting allegiances, and a general feeling of mistrust make for a fantastic noir-thriller but not a fantastic M:I movie as we know them now.
In fact, the film’s climatic action sequence set on a speeding train being chased by a helicopter feels somewhat out of place with the rest of the movie’s foggy streets, dark shadows, and femme fatales. It does, of course, contain the iconic vault heist scene, with Cruise dangling from a rope above a motion sensor floor. That scene is just as harrowing and tense as ever.
5. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
The first film in what will become the Christopher McQuarrie quartet of M:I films is an absolute gangbuster of an action film that firmly entrenches both the franchise and McQuarrie at the top of the action genre, and it constructs the building that Ghost Protocol built the groundwork for. All the M:I films have surprisingly striking directorial visions and styles, and McQuarrie’s is visceral, real action. The opening sequence featuring actual Tom Cruise actually strapped to the side of a plane as it actually takes off from an airport set the tone and tenor going forward, and it’s been fantastic.
This, and every movie after it on this list, is truly great. However, where Rogue Nation suffers is in its villain as Sean Harris’ Solomon Lane falls a bit flat as the big bad (this time around), and the film’s storyline of Ethan Hunt and the team going rogue is starting to feel pretty tired given it’s now been done in some way on every damn film. The heist sequence, though taut and featuring Cruise underwater for an extended period of time in reality, is still a bit too CGI-heavy to stand up against other M:I action sequences as well.
4. Mission: Impossible III
M:I III and M:I — Rogue Nation are neck and neck for this spot, and honestly, Rogue Nation is a better action movie and probably a better-directed movie on the whole. However, M:I III claims this spot because it’s the movie that finally cements M:I into a franchise, laying out the blueprint for the rest of the films to follow. Easily the darkest and most emotionally powerful of the films, director J.J. Abrams, whose Bad Robot production company would go on to produce the next four films, finally lays the Bondian groundwork of massive stunts and deranged villains that take M:I from two drastically different movies into a cohesive franchise.
Its most striking accomplishment is turning Ethan Hunt into an actual character and not a cardboard spy, a fact it boldly proclaims by opening not on an action sequence but on an extended interrogation scene between Cruise’s Hunt and Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s deranged villain. The latter, portrayed with a wonderfully restrained psychosis, is the best villain of the franchise, and Hoffman, alongside a film with a deeper plot than most of these movies, pulls out Cruise’s best performance as Hunt. Though full of too many lens flares, the action is pretty strong as well.
3. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
If M:I III created the blueprint for what this franchise could be, then Ghost Protocol lays down the groundwork. Directed by Brad Bird and inexplicably his only action movie credit to date, the movie is a thrilling, stunt-filled extravaganza that fully establishes an M:IÂ formula for success. From allowing Tom Cruise to actually climb the outside of the world’s tallest building to a world-threatening evil plan to an elaborate heist during a fancy party, the movie pulls in both the franchise’s past and builds its future. It hurls along at a wonderfully breakneck pace but manages to maintain the character work that its predecessor finally built.
It helps that both new additions Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner fit in wonderfully with the team, though both seem to have now left the franchise for now. Ghost Protocol finally gives the films a stable team as well, with Simon Pegg firmly established as Hunt’s second sidekick alongside Ving Rhames (the only other actor to appear in every M:I film) and the trio working fantastically together. The building that Ghost Protocol constructs also recognizes that we’re showing up to these films for action and stunts, but that just a dash of personal storytelling is important too, weaving in what has become an ongoing theme of sacrifice for the greater good into Hunt’s character.
2. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
The big question after Cruise and McQuarrie delivered one of the greatest action movies ever with Mission: Impossible – Fallout (see number 1) was whether or not they could follow it up. They answered that question with a resounding, action-filled, stunt-packed, creativity-infused, shockingly emotional thrill ride in Dead Reckoning Part One. Picking up (tonally) right where Fallout leaves off, the film showed how both McQuarrie and Cruise were at the top of their game. From an extensive train-based action sequence that somehow also features Cruise actually jumping a motorcycle off a cliff, to the addition of the absolutely fantastic Hayley Atwell (can’t have the same leading lady stick around too long, right?), the film delivers on all fronts. This is despite the fact that the plot is yet again based around Ethan Hunt and team going rogue.
Why isn’t it number one then? Two reasons. The first is that the movie is truly only half a film, with a cliffhanger ending that will lead into the second movie, and thus isn’t the complete picture that Fallout is. The second is, of course, that there’s no Henry Cavill. Cavill bumps any movie up one spot.
1. Mission: Impossible — Fallout
With M:I III creating the blueprint, Ghost Protocol laying the groundwork, and Rogue Nation establishing the building, Fallout perfects it all. The franchise’s first direct sequel is also kind of its first direct remake in that it pretty much follows the exact same plot as Ghost Protocol. Despite the rehashing, Fallout claims the top spot on this list for just being impeccably made and fun to watch. The film might steal plots but it delivers them better, even going as far as to make Hunt and team yet again go rogue into an intriguing plot twist.
Delivering some of the most visceral action ever seen in action cinema thanks to Cruise’s insane stunt work and McQuarrie’s no-holds-barred direction, the film opens with exposition but very quickly turns into one fantastic action sequence after the next, concluding in a helicopter chase / bomb diffusing / close-quarter fight conclusion that is the best of the franchise. The addition of “arm loading” Henry Cavill as the film’s surprise villain is only icing on the cake, as the film cleverly casts the normally heroic actor as the story’s turncoat. McQuarrie and Cruise deliver action perfection.
That is all of the Mission: Impossible movies ranked. Tell us how your list compares.
