: The entire series, including the finale, is available on Paramount+. Mission: Impossible 1-8 Review
Christopher McQuarrie Synopsis: Ethan pursues the Syndicate, a shadowy anti-IMF network of rogue agents. Hunted by the CIA (which wants the IMF shut down), Ethan allies with Ilsa Faust, a disavowed British agent embedded in the Syndicate. Key Set Piece: Holding onto the side of an A400M cargo plane during takeoff. Legacy: Introduced Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson); underwater breath-hold sequence.
The Stylish Puzzle Brian De Palma’s debut installment remains the most cerebral of the series. It is not an action movie in the modern sense; it is a Hitchcockian thriller. The plot is convoluted (some say impenetrably so), revolving around a mole hunt that forces Ethan Hunt to go rogue.