Mission Impossible - 10 stars out of 10

Mission Impossible - 10 stars out of 10

Mission Impossible is one of the most classic spy films ever imagined.  With characters disguised by masks left and right and twists lurking around every corner, your mind will be working overtime.  A lot of people dislike Tom Cruise but it is difficult to dislike him in the role of Ethan Hunt.  In this story, a special agent finds himself in an "impossible" situation (see what I did there?) when his entire team is killed and he is wrongly identified as a mole in the system.  Unfortunately, he has to put himself into an even more "impossible" situation (See? I did it again) in order to clear his name and put the real mole behind bars.  This excellent cast includes Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames (who plays one of the coolest roles in film), Kristin Scott Thomas, and Vanessa Redgrave.  You can't go wrong with 4 Oscar-nominees in your cast.  The film's iconic scene, with Cruise lowered from the ceiling of a secure room in the CIA, is just as intense as when it first came out over 15 years ago.  The film delivers the perfect blend of action and mental intrigue and I cannot imagine anybody figuring out how all of these twists can possibly be resolved on their first view.  Who is a good guy and who is a bad guy?  Don't bother answering the question since the roles will be reversed five minutes farther into the movie.  Even on my 10th view, I pick up new little subtleties that keep the plot interesting even when the ending is known.  I am so glad that this series has been extended over several films and hope for more in the future.