10 Movie Franchises That Surprisingly Got Better

2. Mission: Impossible

What a wild ride the Mission: Impossible series has been.

1996's Brian De Palma-directed film was a solidly enjoyable spy romp, yet 2000's John Woo-helmed follow-up proved wildly divisive, effectively putting the series on an extended hiatus until 2006, when J.J. Abrams delivered a smoother, less-ridiculous threequel.

This is generally regarded as the point at which the series began its irreversible climb towards genre mastery.

2011's fourth film, Ghost Protocol, saw Brad Bird elevate the series to new heights (literally), with a greater focus on ingenious gadgets, palm-sweating stunt work (much of it carried out by Tom Cruise) and a terrifically charming ensemble cast.

And then Christopher McQuarrie joined the director's chair for the fifth film, Rogue Nation, again amping up the ambition of the set-pieces while finally lending the series a female mainstay in femme fatale Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).

But just last year, the series once again set a new high for itself, with Mission: Impossible - Fallout, a film so staggeringly well-realised and brilliantly acted that many deemed it the greatest action film since Mad Max: Fury Road (and they're not really wrong).

It's a fascinating journey for a series that started out so simple (relatively speaking), and after some early speed bumps, has managed to master the art of upstaging itself every time.

It's tough to imagine how the seventh film can top Fallout, but didn't we all say that about Rogue Nation?