Mission: Impossible — The Final Ranking
Every "Mission: Impossible," ranked from worst to best — including "The Final Reckoning."
The Gist
The latest “Mission: Impossible” movie hit theaters over the weekend.
It’s apparently the final movie in the franchise — at least for now.
Where does it rank among the seven previous entries?
Is “Mission: Impossible” the best action movie franchise?
It might be, and I wouldn’t necessarily argue with you if you thought so. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Tom Cruise has carried this series on his back, shepherding it from a ‘90s spy thriller based on a dormant TV show into the blockbusters of today — and surviving his own career turbulence on the way.
Now, “The Final Reckoning” is here, breaking the franchise’s own opening weekend box office record. Despite lukewarm reviews (at least compared to previous entries), audiences are showing up and seem to be enjoying it (it got an A- CinemaScore). With IMAX screens secured for the coming weeks, it should have a healthy box office run.
But we’re not here to talk about box office. I re-watched the series ahead of “Final Reckoning” and I have thoughts. Here’s every movie ranked (and please keep in mind that while I feel confident in the top four movies and the bottom one, the other three could probably be swapped either way depending on the day):
8. “Mission: Impossible II” (2000)
I don’t think there are any truly bad “Mission: Impossible” movies — but the first sequel comes close. A sharp shift in tone from the first movie — director John Woo takes over from Brian De Palma —makes this a comical head-scratcher; instead of building on its predecessor, the second Mission tries to emulate the action films of the time (it came out a year after The Matrix) with wacky results. I give it the benefit of the doubt, though: Of course Ethan Hunt would be a loner weirdo after losing his entire team and being betrayed in the first Mission. I was also cackling like a hyena the entire third act.
7. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning” (2023)
Look, “Dead Reckoning” probably doesn’t deserve to be this low, I’ll admit that. But it goes to show how strong this franchise is. Like all of director Christopher McQuarrie’s Missions, it’s an expertly crafted tour de force in action filmmaking; the handcuffed car chase is one of the series’ highlights. But there’s more about the movie that perplexes me than I love. Bad guy Gabriel’s history with Ethan is hamfisted, leaving a dangling thread so flimsy that “Final Reckoning” chooses to mostly ignore it. And I’m not a fan of how Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa goes out; an attempt to hammer home the point that everyone Ethan cares about is in danger ultimately just comes off as an excuse to make room for Hayley Atwell’s Grace. She’s missed in “Final Reckoning,” and I mainly blame that on this movie.
6. “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” (2025)
The most recent, and potentially final, Mission is already a bit polarizing. And I totally understand the criticism: It’s bloated and convoluted, and it’s full of franchise callbacks that don’t always land. But other critiques, particularly over the hero worship for Ethan Hunt, is exactly what I come to these movies for. This franchise is a manifestation of Hunt’s (Tom Cruise’s) insane willingness to put his life on the line to save the world (the movies). And boy does he ever put his life on the line in this one; for the first time in this franchise, I legitimately thought that Tom Cruise, not even Ethan Hunt, was going to die. But beyond the exhilarating stunts, this is a summer blockbuster that actually has things to say, even if it’s awkwardly saying them. At one point, Hunt tells someone he’s reading too much on the internet while kicking his teeth in. A Black female president is surrounded by male warmongers trying to convince her to pull a “FAIL SAFE” (1964). And when AI is infiltrating every aspect of our lives years from now, including movies, we’re going to look back at this and realize how good we had it, all thanks to Ethan Hunt.
5. “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)
The third mission, directed by JJ Abrams in his feature debut, isn’t as well made a movie as either of the Reckonings; much of the action is choppy and sometimes even incoherent. But aside from some high points in those movies, I would probably choose to re-watch M:I3 over them. A first-act shootout featuring a badass Keri Russell; the bridge attack; a hilariously chaotic Cruise performance after he finds out he has a bomb in his head; and a terrifying Philip Seymour Hoffman, easily the best villain of the series. The third Mission also lays some of the groundwork for what would come after, particularly a return to team dynamics, including the introduction of Simon Pegg. And while the Julia storyline doesn’t totally work in this movie, I appreciate it for what it leads to in other films; we needed to ground Ethan before we could realize he can’t be grounded (This is also the first Mission to fully realize Cruise’s running powers, and for that, I’m grateful).
4. “Mission: Impossible” (1996)
The first in the series is more of a straight-forward spy movie than the big-budget action blockbusters the series is now known for. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feature some thrilling set pieces, namely the Langley break in. It’s so smart in how it balances story and action, something the later films would perfect on a greater scale.
3. “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)
“Rogue Nation” loses points for doing another “IMF is shut down” story right after “Ghost Protocol.” And Jeremy Renner feels like baggage this time around. But this has two main things going for it: Rebecca Ferguson, who injected so much charisma into this franchise and was dearly missed in “Final Reckoning”, and Simon Pegg, whose comic timing is fully realized maybe for the first time in the franchise. This being McQuarrie’s first mission, he knew early on that Ethan is superhuman, and “Rogue” injects that into the franchise like never before in deliriously entertaining ways (the opening plane sequence, the underwater sequence, etc).
2. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” (2011)
Maybe this is a hot take, but the fourth Mission might be the most…re-watchable? From the Kremlin bombing to the skyscraper climb to the sand storm chase to the parking garage climax, and everything in between, director Brad Bird brought a new kind of fun to the franchise that replicated in live action what he had done in animation. This is also where McQuarrie, with uncredited re-writes, comes onto the series, punching up and streamlining the story. Oh, and I am a fan of how this movie addresses the Julia situation; Cruise’s performance in this one combines subtle comic mannerisms — that he carries into future movies — with an even more subtle sadness underneath, that takes on new meaning with the end revelation. It’s also fitting considering where he was at in his career at the time, with “Ghost Protocol” originally conceived as a passing of the torch — in a way, this movie is the biggest victory lap in the series.
1. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (2018)
This has everything I want in an action movie: Tom Cruise jumping out of planes; a bathroom brawl; a dance club sequence; a high-speed motorcycle and/or car chase; and Tom Cruise running long distances. Overall, this is peak “Mission: Impossible,” and the franchise is just showing off at this point. I love how it incorporates Julia back into the mix and its other subtle nods to previous movies (Benji directing Ethan, Ethan climbing a cliff, etc.) without it ever feeling repetitive. But the thing that makes this great from the get-go is the inciting incident: Ethan botches a mission saving a team member; ever since the first movie, we’ve seen him wrestle with learning to trust a team/family again, and that comes full circle here. And not for nothing, this also has the best musical score of the series.
Beyond the Traverse
🛩️ McQuarrie says that a story for Top Gun 3 is “already in the bag.”
🗓️ The next two Avengers movies were both delayed from summers ‘26 and ‘27 to the December of those years.
⚔️ Alex Garland (and A24??) is making an Elden Ring movie.
An Elden Ring movie was one of my suggestions in my analysis of potential next video game-movie blockbusters.
🕰️ Amazon canceled its Wheel of Time series after two seasons.
I recently wrote about how streamers should give up on the next Game of Thrones-like fantasy series.
🐈⬛ EA is canceling its Black Panther video game and shutting down the studio that was developing it.
I think before he makes any movie, Tom Cruise looks in a mirror and asks himself, how can I be More Cruise? And then in Fallout, he jumps out of an airplane to save Superman. That was More Cruise as More Cruise gets.