What started as a feature-length adaptation of the late 1960s TV series, updated from its Cold War-era origins for a different time, has blossomed into the last of the organic franchises, working its way through several directors while Cruise stayed the constant.

That changed with Fallout, with Christopher McQuarrie returning to the franchise as writer-director, and in the process crafting the first direct sequel in the series and the best action film of 2018 yet.

But how does it stack up alongside the others To answer that question, we decided to rank all six Mission: Impossible movies from worst to best.

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) John Woos laser-focused approach to his notable talents stylistic action sequences, of which this first sequel had many, including an over-the-top, ludicrous climactic battle between the hero and villain reportedly resulted in clashes on set with Cruise and extended production, with the final cut being a studio-mandated sanitised version of Woos penchant for bloody spills, so as to not push the series into unwanted R-rated territory.

Some of that was likely down to Woo being regarded as a legend, and his not having to prove anything to anyone didnt help matters.

In combination with the films other failures a superfluous story riffing heavily on Alfred Hitchocks Notorious to the extent of stealing scenes, and a pervasive misogyny in both plot and dialogue made it a near-mindless film, and a great example of the term popcorn film being used in a scathing fashion.

Mission: Impossible III (2006) J.J.

Abrams got the job after Cruise binge-watched his TV series Alias, and the writer-director brought his mystery-box ideas famously used on Lost, whose development led to the six-year gap, the longest wait between Mission: Impossible chapters to the franchise, setting Hunt and his team on a chase for a MacGuffin from Vatican City to Shanghai.

That excuse gave us a few ridiculous stunts including Cruise swinging between two high-rise towers, and somehow surviving multiple drone strikes.

In between all this was Philip Seymour Hoffmans purely-evil vindictive menace, handed leverage by Abrams biggest change: The film expanded on Hunts personal life, giving the globe-trotting character a romantic interest and in turn, both humanise him and give him something to fear.

It would be the only instalment to do so, with the rejection of the grittier, humane touch from audiences M:i:III grossed the least at the worldwide box office putting the franchise on a different path.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011) Cruise and Abrams handpicked The Incredibles director Brad Bird to make his live-action directorial debut on Ghost Protocol, who responded with successfully transferring his kinetic style of filmmaking, mining humour out of IMFs high-tech gadgetry failing to work reliably including the always-important latex mask manufacturing device and making it more cinematically impressive with the introduction of IMAX photography, popularised a few years prior by Christopher Nolan on The Dark Knight.

The film benefited from some unrealistic yet awe-inspiring set-pieces, most notably Cruise scaling up and then running down the outside of the worlds tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in addition to an expanded role for Simon Peggs Benji, going from desk jockey to field operative, bringing his goofiness along for the ride.

Its the rest of the film that shows his style, be it the high-contrast nighttime Prague shots, the twist of making a TV series hero a traitor which irked many fans of the show and deriving tension from the delicate nature of spy work.

The last of those is what propelled the originals now-iconic central set-piece, with Hunt rappelling down into a high-tech CIA vault and literally hanging from a thread for the duration of his mission.

At the same time, McQuarrie adopted the best parts of other entries in moulding his first Hunt venture as critics have remarked a villain akin to Abrams film, and shifting loyalties from the original and upped the ante on set-piece ideas with full support from Cruise, giving us the craziness of Hunt holding onto a plane as it takes off or holding his breath underwater for several minutes, filmed exclusively in long takes.

Mission: Impossible Fallout (2018) Having delivered a series high-point, McQuarrie tempted fate, trend and time three years is the shortest time-span between two chapters to become the first Mission: Impossible director to return and proved that Cruise had found a partner behind the camera as dedicated as him.

Fallout also finds ways to incorporate most regular faces, and keeps on delivering exhilarating set-pieces that top what weve seen before in past instalments and the film itself, including a crazy aerial long-take and a dizzying helicopter stunt.

It amps up the excitement factor thanks to spectacular staging and a much lower emphasis on the Mission: Impossible theme, keeping the audiences attention solely on the action unfolding in front of them.

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Further reading: Mission Impossible, Mission Impossible Fallout, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise, Paramount Akhil Arora Email Akhil.

As a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic, Akhil has reviewed over 150 movies and TV shows in over half a decade at Gadgets 360.

When he is not completely caught up with new film and TV releases, Akhil.

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