Tom Cruise on the wing of a biplane in <em>Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning </em>(Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Now that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has almost completed its third week in theatres, we’ve had enough time to properly rank it against the other seven movies in this action franchise starring Tom Cruise, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Studios. Confirmed (or is it?) to be the last movie in the franchise, it brings the 30-year journey of agent Ethan Hunt and his IMF colleagues to a close. Considering its strengths and (many) flaws, where would we place it?
Out of curiosity, I scrolled through similar articles and ranking videos to get an idea where other fans stand on the M:I movies…fair to say my ranking might be a little divisive. That’s what makes it interesting, right? You’ve been warned, I would kindly ask you to abstain from throwing eggs at me.
Let’s remember, all these movies are considered very good compared to what is out there! I’m mainly comparing them against each other. So from worst to best, let’s dive into it!
8) Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
Tom Cruise on the wing of a biplane in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Yeah, it’s a bit of a shame to be honest. To end such a majestic action franchise on a sour note feels wrong. Let’s be fair, though, the latest and potentially last movie in the franchise is FAR better than most action movies released today, no questions asked. The final 40 minutes of the 8th Mission: Impossible movie will be remembered in cinema history for putting their lead actor in a suicidal stunt involving biplanes over South Africa. Let’s not forget a deep dive expedition at the bottom of the Bering Sea, which is also pretty intense. The main problem is what came before that crescendo, meaning half of the film’s duration (about 90 minutes, give or take). Most of the runtime of The Final Reckoning is focused on useless exposition, in closed rooms, to help us remember the events of the previous film, Dead Reckoning, and even previous entries of the franchise (mostly the original film and M:I-3). A few revelations fall flat, with no impact on the story whatsoever, but I exclude the return of William Donloe, which was well-executed. Finally, as a character with a serious ‘messiah’ complex, Ethan has reached his peak, where nothing he does surprises us. As for the villains and allies, they do not have enough to cook with to fulfill their own arcs appropriately, as Ethan and The Entity suck up all the attention. I left the theatre disappointed in the final film of the franchise for its terrible pacing and over-reliance on exposition. Although definitely not forgettable, The Final Reckoning makes us wait too long for that satisfying conclusion. Overall, everyone agrees, this movie has pacing problems that make it a more boring watch than the other films that came before it.
7) Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
The reason why I place M:I-2 above The Final Reckoniong and its jaw-dropping stunts is quite simple: the second installment if just so damn fun in ways the final installment is not! Are the stunts a little ludicrous? Of course. Too much slow-motion and cheap action gimmicks? Maybe. However, we can’t deny that Tom Cruise looked damn cool and super agile in this one. Director John Woo directed Mission: Impossible II and incorporated his own style of Hong Kong action films that he loves so much, including reinforced dramatic tensions through slow-motion and impossible action moves. The main plot involving the Chimera Virus and IMF agent gone rogue Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) is decent enough, but what makes this an above-average action film are the incredible stunts involving motorcycles, mountain climbing and hand-to-hand combat. Thandie Newton as love interest and master thief Nyah is the most forgettable female partner for Ethan in the whole franchise, but they do have good chemistry (contrary to popular opinion). However, what we can say is that Australian actor Hugh Jackman owes a lot to this film, as Dougray Scott (Ambrose) was originally cast as Wolverine in the first X-Men movie. Due to scheduling conflicts and the production on M:I-2 going longer than expected, he lost the role to Jackman. All in all, a better watch than you might remember.
6) Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
Esai Morales and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Although this movie is still pretty awesome, there are two major things that played against it: it was the first half of a story, and it had the bad luck to be the sequel to Fallout (we’ll get to this one later, but let’s just say it’s an unfair comparison). Until recently, this movie was titled Dead Reckoning – Part One, meaning that the movie ends on low note with a half-fulfilled story. Other than that, what jumps to my face in this one is that there is a big villain problem – main antagonist Gabriel (Esai Morales) is so over-the-top diabolical both here and in The Final Reckoning, he’s hard to take seriously. This is also where Ethan and the IMF are introduced to The Entity, a rogue AI system that is going berserk (hello SkyNet?) and threatens to take over the globe’s digital sphere. It makes sense from a 2023 angle, but it could have been delivered better. Yes, the motocross jump from the cliff in Austria is impressive, but it is too short to keep us in the edge of our seats (plus the stunt was heavily marketed in advanced, which detracted from the wow factor). The arrival of Hayley Atwell as love interest and future IMF partner, Grace, is welcome, but arrives too late. The rest of the film is okay and it delivers, but we can feel sorry for Rebecca Ferguson and her character, which SHOULD have lasted until the end. To end on a high note, the film has one of the best action scenes in an airport in recent memory.
5) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Let’s be honest, don’t you think Ghost Protocol might be a tiny bit overrated…? Not for the stunts, of course, these were mind-blowing at the time (until Cruise raised the bar even higher), but mostly for its plot. We still must give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, the fourth film really marked a new beginning for the series. After the disappointing run of M:I-3 in 2006, the franchise needed a soft reboot, and this is what Director Brad Bird delivered. More humor, more charm and more focus on key ‘impossible’ stunts – these were the ingredients that propelled the franchise forward for the next fourteen years. The IMF team in this film is considered the best and most memorable, including new regular Simon Pegg as Benji, Paula Patton as Jane (never to be seen again for some weird reason) and Jeremy Renner as Brandt (awesome addition, but also disappears without a trace eventually). The locations are exotic and great, including Russia, Dubai and India, and Tom Cruise is as cool as he looked in M:I-2. And yes, of course, that Burj Kalifa stunt where Ethan climbed the exterior of the tallest building in the world is absolutely insane. What does bother me a bit with this one is the main plot and the villains, both incredibly forgettable and unimpressive. This is the one where the team needs to get back a stolen “football” with Russian Nuclear Launch Codes, a trope we’ve heard so many times. My respect to the late Swedish actor Michal Nyqvist who delivered the few lines of script he had as the main villain Kurt Hendricks. However, this movie marked a new era in action movie franchises and for Tom Cruise. It is still very well-respected today.
4) Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Tom Cruise and Kerri Russell in Mission: Impossible III (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
Arguably the most underrated M:I movie to date, I’m glad to see that this film is getting its resurgence nowadays. At the time, it left the franchise in bad shape as it underperformed at the box office, and we were left waiting five years for the next installment to land in theatres. Even by today’s standards, I find M:I-3 to be a very bold entry. It is the most personal and important mission for Ethan Hunt as we see his new wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), directly implicated in the story, raising the stakes significantly for him. Cruise gives a deep emotional performance as Ethan, making him a flawed and relatable human being (that will change a bit in the future films). Most of all, the third film succeeded where almost all entries failed: it gave us the very best villain of the franchise in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian. As an arms dealer, Davian is ruthless, barbarian and takes things very personally, so much so that he threatens to kidnap Ethan’s wife and kill her in front of him when he is caught by the IMF team. The scenes involving the confrontation between Hoffman and Cruise are some of the very best Mission: Impossible has to offer. Let’s not forget, M:I-3 also delivered on action, including an incredible drone attack on a bridge in the mainland, a great infiltration in Vatican City and a high-octane race against the clock in Shanghai. The supporting cast here is also quite decent, including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q and Ving Rhames, as Ethan’s best friend, Luther, at the very top of their prime. It is a personal favourite of mine and definitely a movie that deserves a rewatch. Interestingly, this movie is J.J. Abrams’s directorial debut, after a successful run as a TV Director with Alias.
3) Mission: Impossible (1996)
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
The original Mission: Impossible movie from 1996 reinvented the spy movie genre just in time for the 21st century. I know many fans might disagree with me placing it so high in the list, but I think that Director Brian De Palma made both an action-heavy and suspenseful masterpiece…at least for its time. Very different in both tone and action compared to the next entries, this movie is a great classic beloved by both movie goers and true lovers of the 7th art, like Quentin Tarantino. The original film is more talky and suspenseful, closer to a psychological drama than anything else…and I Iove it. Shorter in its runtime, extremely well-paced and gratifying, Mission: Impossible needs to be your next binge watch to witness that incredible CIA infiltration scene in complex silence; it still holds up today. This was made at a time when Tom Cruise did not know he had a death wish to do impossible stunts to bring people to theatres, but the complicated plot and strong supporting cast (including Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Emmanuelle Béart and Henry Czerny). Also, if you have not seen The Final Reckoning in theatres yet, it might be a good idea to revisit this one; you can expect many references.
2) Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
I know a few fans (our good friend Sean among them) who place this one at the very top of the franchise, and it would be hard to argue! What works very well with Rogue Nation as a whole is that it was able to use the same recipe that made Ghost Protocol successful while also honouring some of the more classical elements that were introduced in the very first film. To put it simply, the fifth Mission: Impossible movie has a bit of everything in it, making it a complete Mission: Impossible experience. The locations are absolutely fantastic (Austria, Morocco and London, to name a few), adding an extra dose of exoticism which can be found in James Bond films. The action set pieces are some of the most memorable in the franchise, including Ethan hanging from a C-17 in midair, a high-speed bike chase on the highway, as well as a tense underwater sequence that literally makes you gasp for air. Finally, this is the one that introduced the fan favourite ‘femme fatale’ of the franchise: Rebecca Ferguson as rogue agent Ilsa Faust (chewing the scenery every time). The Syndicate is compelling enough as a villainous organization to rival the IMF, same for its leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Overall, an outstanding spy movie, from start to finish…and quite an elegant one as well! As Sean once put it, there is an Opera scene for the ages in here…
1) Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
How does that ever happen…a sixth film in a franchise ranked at the top position? Fallout is not just the top Mission: Impossible movie; it is perhaps THE BEST action film of the last 25 years. This film might even be Cruise’s masterpiece alongside Top Gun: Maverick (2022). The best stunts, a good story, good villains overall and spectacular locations; Fallout is simply superb and pretty flawless. What makes it the very best opus in this symphony of action and stunts is that it keeps delivering even more, scene after scene. Cruise does actually perform a real HALO (High-Altitude-Low-Opening) sky dive, takes part in an incredibly well-practiced hand-to-hand combat scene with a martial arts expert in the club’s bathroom, circles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in peak traffic on a motorcycle, jumps from rooftop to rooftop in London (literally breaking his ankle doing it during production)…and then flies a helicopter for real in the snowy mountains of Kashmir in chase of his enemies. I’m almost exhausted saying all of this. The film is just completely insane. This is also where Henry Cavill plays a notable ‘heavy’, reloading his biceps before a fight, and (spoiler alert) becomes the second-best villain in the franchise after Seymour Hoffman in M:I 3.
There you have it! Do you agree with our list? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try and rank this franchise better than I did 😉
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