10 Great Movies That Prove Blockbusters Don't Have To Be Dumb

10. Mission: Impossible

It says something about the state of modern cinema that Mission: Impossible, the first instalment in the franchise, directed by Brian de Palma and starring Tom Cruise as super spy Ethan Hunt, was lambasted by some for being "too convoluted." If a movie based on spies can't have plenty of twists and turns, what else can? While Mission: Impossible is no Smiley's People or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, it's inventive and intriguing enough to put it head and shoulders above the rest of the espionage movies which have emerged from Hollywood. While it might not be a masterpiece, you only have to watch the sequels to see just how much the plots ended up being sacrificed in favour of increasingly mindless action. Still, as lacking in the brains department as the sequels are, Tom Cruise clearly knows his target audience - the Mission: Impossible series doesn't look like it'll be coming to an end any time soon, regardless of how simplistic the storylines may have become.