The new poster for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has made its way to the interwebs! Paramount Pictures just sent over this teaser poster for the hotly-anticipated seventh film in the 27-year-old film series that doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down with age. On the contrary, from what we’ve seen in the trailers and other on-set footage, it looks like they’re saving the best for this two-episode blowout finale.
For me, this is one of the only consistently AWESOME action film franchises out there (the other being the John Wick series). The Fast & Furious films might come close, but that’s a franchise that keeps trying to one-up itself in spectacle, regardless of realism or logic flaws – they’re out for vicious fun, and that’s definitely why people return for more. The Die Hard series came to a screeching halt with the backbirthed A Good Day to Die Hard, and sadly, we won’t get a chance for Bruce Willis to redeem himself with another John McClane story.
But Mission: Impossible… from the jump back in 1996 as Brian De Palma’s subdued yet riveting suspense thriller dominated the summer box office, we knew we were in for something special. The Bad Robot-era films – Mission: Impossible III and onward – have elevated the series to damn near high art, staying grounded in reality while still finding time to dazzle us with an unparalleled balance of stuntwork, action, intrigue, showmanship, and character richness.
With each successive film, superstar Tom Cruise has found a way to make our jaws not just drop but hit the floor and smash with his escalating, death-defying stunts. There’s a Jackie Chan-esque “One Big Stunt” he gets to do per film that makes our eyes go wide and our brains start thinking, “How far is this man willing to go to entertain his audiences?” Answer: as far as he needs to. And as long as he keeps commanding the audience’s respect by going to great lengths to earn it, I’m all in.
Personal ranking time! The ones at the bottom are only at the bottom because, well, that’s how lists go. Yeah, M:I-2 seems totally pedestrian in light of the last few movies and the bigger stunts, but it still holds up. John Woo is still an action god.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible II
