MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (56)

Directed by: Brian de Palma

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart

The Pitch: Secret agent suspected of treason must clear his name by finding the real mole.

Theo Sez: There isn't much fun to be had anymore in these big summer movies - ingenuity to admire, special effects to gawp at, but not much in the way of fun (the stakes are just too high). It's the kind of film where, quite unlike its putative source, everything has been painstakingly manufactured - if, for example, an early scene feels long-winded and artificial it's because every line is there for a reason, to be used or repeated later: nothing is casual. The scene in question features Cruise and his team doing nothing much, just lightly bantering, which is also significant - for what summer movie could afford to include a scene where nothing happens? The point is perpetual motion, every scene a ride, and the film delivers at least partway, with two fabulous set-pieces (the FX-fest at the end slightly less memorable than the TOPKAPI-inspired break-in) and enough clever convolution to keep the demon called Boredom at bay. Indeed it's impressively successful at what it sets out to do, and perhaps deserving of a higher rating - at least if it didn't all evaporate from the mind so amazingly fast.