‘Impossible’ mission: We rate all eight ‘M:I’ flicks

Since 1996, when Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt first dropped into a vault at CIA headquarters, the crack agent for the Impossible Missions Force has tackled a series of dangerous (and increasingly preposterous) stunts, all intended to save the world — or, at least, Sydney, Australia (hello, “Mission: Impossible 2”). 

Cruise swears that the most recent mission, “The Final Reckoning,” will be the last in the series; we’ll see about that. But if the mission is to rank the “Mission: Impossible” movies from best to worst, I choose to accept it. You may choose to disavow this listing; if so, email me at mike@lookoutlocal.com.

1. “Ghost Protocol” (2011)

The mission: Find out who framed the IMF by bombing the Kremlin — and prevent a madman’s scheme to trigger a global nuclear war. 

This is the one in which Hunt is required to climb up the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building, with just a pair of technologically advanced sticky gloves, because — well, I forget the reasons why. But the climbing sequence is just the beginning of an absurdly entertaining half-hour stretch that includes a ridiculously complicated bit of business with a programmable briefcase that doubles as a printer, a contact lens that’s actually a camera, a mask-making device that breaks down mid-mask, death by defenestration and a gonzo chase through a sandstorm. Did I mention that the Kremlin explodes shortly after the movie starts? Or that it ends with a nuclear missile fired at San Francisco? Also, this is the only “Mission: Impossible” movie directed by a graduate of Oregon’s Corvallis High School, Brad Bird.

2. “Fallout” (2018)

The mission: Stop a terrorist’s plan to detonate a nuclear weapon. 

This is the one in which Hunt and another agent decide to crash a party by making a high-altitude parachute jump during a thunderstorm — apparently because it was quicker than summoning an Uber. It perhaps goes without saying that one of the agents actually is struck by lightning. However, the movie has perhaps the best finale of any “Mission: Impossible” movie, an exceedingly well-done helicopter chase cross-cut with a desperate search for yet another nuclear weapon, which in the “M:I” world are so common that they apparently can be purchased at Amazon.

3. “Mission: Impossible” (1996)

The mission: Find out who sabotaged a mission to prevent the theft of a secret list of undercover agents.

The film that launched the series was panned by critics, but it holds up well. Suspense wizard Brian De Palma directed the movie, which features the second-most iconic stunt in the series, in which Hunt must break into a locked CIA room without touching the floor. Or sweating. Or raising the temperature too much. Or breathing, but I might not be recalling the scene correctly. The finale, which involves a helicopter tethered to a speeding train inside a tunnel — where helicopters usually are encouraged not to fly — is fun. This movie marks the first appearance of Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, the only character other than Hunt who appears in all eight movies. As a bonus: This is the one with the explosive chewing gum.

4. “Rogue Nation” (2015)

The mission: Track down The Syndicate, an international group of rogue government agents. 

Near the start, Hunt jumps onto the outside of a cargo plane as it’s taking off and clings onto it as it becomes airborne, in order to — well, who cares, really? The movie  introduces arguably the series’ strongest female character, Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, a skillful spy with questionable allegiances. It has a sequence in which Hunt nearly drowns in an underwater vault in an attempt to retrieve … something important, I guess. But I find that I can remember almost nothing else about this installment. It’s fun while it lasts, though. 

5. “Dead Reckoning — Part One” (2023)

The mission: Stop an evil AI from destroying the world, but only get half the job done.

This is the one in which Hunt drives a motorcycle off a cliff. Everyone’s seen the stunt — but the best thing about the movie is the hilarious way in which the stunt pays off, and I’m not saying anything more than that. The finale, in which a train plunges, car by car, into a deep gorge is genuinely thrilling. But the movie feels very much like an unfinished work, as moviegoers might have guessed by the use of the phrase “Part One” in the title.

6. “The Final Reckoning” (2025) 

The mission: Stop an evil IA from destroying the world; did you not see “Dead Reckoning?”

This is one of those movies in which the villain, just before he jumps out of a stricken biplane, says there’s only one parachute on the plane. Then another parachute shows up. Of course, that parachute catches on fire on the way down, but still. Nevertheless, the movie is entertaining enough, even if it takes a long time to get rolling because of the numerous flashbacks to previous “M:I” movies.  

7. “Mission: Impossible 3” (2006) 

The mission: Stop the bad guy from killing your wife. 

The third installment features the best villain in any of the movies — a deliciously dry Philip Seymour Hoffman — but the movie seems a little flat, and the finale is a bit of a dud, even though it involves a scene in which Hunt must apply a defibrillator to himself. However, the sequence near the start — an attempt to rescue an IMF agent who’s had an explosive device planted in her brain — is reasonably diverting. 

8. “Mission: Impossible 2” (2000)

The mission:  Capture a virus spread by a pharmaceutical company profiting from the cure.

John Woo directed the outlier in the series, in which Cruise teams up with a jewel thief (Thandiwe Newton), and the two actually generate some romantic chemistry — generally not the franchise’s strongest suit. But Woo, for all his gifts, turns out to be a bad fit for the series, and the movie always feels as if it’s playing with low stakes, even though it starts with a jetliner crashing into the side of a mountain.