The Mission: Impossible movies are a mixed bag, to say the least - each installment seems to reflect more on its chosen director than anything else, with Brad Bird's Ghost Protocol a high point with its combination of high concept set pieces and visual spectacle. The low point certainly came with Mission; Impossible 2, where John Woo's overly stylised gunplay complete with slow motion shots of birds taking to wing felt distinctly out of place. Brian De Palma's first movie in the series perhaps felt closest of all to the television series on which it is based, with Ethan Hawke (Tom Cruise) using brains over brawn to undercover the mole who has framed him for a string of murders in the IMF. What Mission: Impossible lacks in gunplay it more than makes up for with its set pieces - the impressively staged infilration of CIA headquarters remains one of the best in the franchise.
