Mission: Impossible (1996)

Rating: **
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, cameo by Emilio Estevez

A disappointing action outing that's only marginally entertaining. When a covert mission goes awry, Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) entire team gets wasted and he gets accused of treason. It's up to Hunt to clear his name and find the real villain who's pulling the strings behind the scenes - not to mention avoid getting caught by the organization, which is more interested in seeing Hunt dead than innocent. Fans of the original series will be outraged by the surprise ending. Unfortunately, nothing seems to come together in this film. The action scenes are sparse and only slightly thrilling, and the rest of the film is rather unremarkable.