Date: Fri 26-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Illustration: C

Location: A10

Quick Words:

Playing-Mission-Cruise

Full Text:

(Now Playing on "Mission Impossible," 7/26/96)

Now Playing-

A Satisfying, Plot-Filled Mission

By Trey Paul Alexander III

No words need ever be said when the universally familiar bass beat and bongo

drums come sounding out of theater speakers. The catchy theme to Mission:

Impossible , penned by Lalo Schifrin in the late 1960s, has been a roaring

staple on television for decades and now emerges in a big screen adaptation of

the series starring (and produced by) Tom Cruise. Most tempting, particularly

in this age of recycled kitsch, is to lump this film in with the pile of

numerous other spin-offs of past pop culture faves; let's face it, the movie

is based on an old TV show. But Mission: Impossible , now playing at the

Edmond Town Hall Theatre in Newtown, distinguishes itself, emerging as the

most fully rounded of this year's summer blockbusters.

Helming this motion picture is director Brian De Palma, the man behind the

camera of The Untouchables , another equally successful reworking of a popular

TV show from a few years back. What is notable about this connection is De

Palma's giftedness at extracting the essence of the source material and

faithfully reshaping it for a modern context.

With The Untouchables , De Palma kept a core theme of the upright versus the

corrupt, all while setting that conflict on a violent, bullet-ridden stage

(many forget that the machine-gun violence of the original was controversial

at the time but was an integral part of the black-and-white series). Mission ,

on the other hand, is far less brutal than his take on The Untouchables

because the `60s spy series wasn't about violence per se, but the methodical

process of pulling off complex and dangerous covert activities.

At this point you might be asking, "So what? Does this have anything to do

with the movie?" Absolutely! Mission is not just about fantastic stunts and

pulse-pounding visual effects, but the machinations and set-ups that get us to

those crowd-pleasing moments. The complex plot has had many a moviegoer

scratching his head in confusion, but it is De Palma and company's way of

remaining true to the series' convictions and style. It is unfortunate that

the unabashed thrills of such films as Twister have dulled the public's

awareness of plot deficiencies, thus making the relative intricacies of

Mission 's story seem labyrinthine in comparison.

Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, spy pointman for the Impossible Missions Force

(IMF), still headed by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves' former role, now played by

Jon Voight). The story is off and running when the IMF team receives orders

about a rouge agent who is selling off an "NOC" list - a set of computer disks

that reveals the names of espionage agents working around the globe. Their

mission is to catch the culprit in the act, thus gaining proof of his illegal

activities.

Without giving away too many secrets for those who haven't yet seen the film,

the plot takes an early, intriguing twist, one which puts Hunt on the run and

whisks him to such diverse locations as Prague, London and CIA headquarters in

Virginia as he decides to undertake his own search for the NOC list. The

sequence in CIA headquarters, which comes in the middle of the movie, is

spectacularly staged and breathtaking; both times I saw the film, the audience

literally gasped during these several minutes... you could have heard a pin

drop.

Technical credits on the film are first rate, and all performances are sound,

including a resolute Cruise and sturdy supporting work by Henry Czerny (as a

CIA honcho), Ving Rhames (a "disavowed" agent) and Vanessa Redgrave as a

mysterious mercenary.

Mission: Impossible , rated PG-13 for a mild use of profanity and restrained

violence, is an intelligently crafted piece of cinema escapism and, as a

complete package (ie, more than just visual effects), is the most satisfying

of the season's big box office hits.