Mission: Impossible

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: May 22, 1996

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

59	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Jack Kroll

Holes in the script cause the narrative to burp at times. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

Mission: Impossible proves something of a letdown, not just because it's fairly easy to guess who the bad guy is but also because we've hardly gotten to know anyone in the movie well enough to become more than superficially involved with them. Read full review

Steve Davis

Whatever the reason for its disappointments, Mission: Impossible is a mission gone awry, prompting you to hope that reruns of its television incarnation will pop up on cable soon. Read full review

David Sterritt

Some of the suspense set-pieces are impressive, but the picture would pack a greater wallop if it were stitched together more tightly and consistently. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not credited)

The result is a gracefully plotted spy film in the classic mode, with just enough self-consciousness to keep things interesting. Read full review

Jay Carr

It'll be a test of whether Cruise's star power and De Palma's ability to seduce audiences with visual style can compensate for a fundamental hollowness at the center. Mission: Impossible plays like a project trying to become a movie and not quite making it. [22 May 1996, p.63]

Jami Bernard

The movie comes alive in bursts such as a train-top fight hampered by gale-force winds. Cruise's star wattage may hog the show, but it insures that Mission: Impossible won't self-destruct easily. Read full review

Jay Boyar

Although the film is watchable and, at times, even borderline entertaining, it has its share of problems. Mainly, the filmmakers seem to have had trouble deciding just what kind of movie they were making. [22 May 1996, p.E1]

David Baron

While Cruise is more than adequate in a part that demands "Top Gun"-style histrionics rather than subtle characterization, the drawbacks of this movie are ultimately overwhelming. After all, entertainment made too difficult is no longer particularly entertaining. [24 May 1996, p.L21]