Mission Impossible 6: 10 Things It Must Address
3. Enough With The Masks Already!
Cinema Blend put together a great video compilation of all the "mask reveals" from the first four Mission Impossible films. By the time you add in those from the fifth (there were two, though one was more of a dream/vision), it starts to feel like you're watching a Scooby-Doo mystery.
The masks - realistic, composite masks molded to make IMF members, or their antagonists, look like someone else - are cool. They were super cool in the 90s/late 2000s, when no one really saw them coming. Now, however, at least one crook in real life has been caught using one, and they're old news. They're no longer impressive when revealed in the Mission Impossible movies; no, the reaction is more "oh, that old trick again."
There are all sorts of tricks the films could use to do something just as sneaky, be it with practical effects, or CGI. Try something new and original. Surprise audiences again, so that the issue of audience fatigue with the same old plot device is addressed.