If Ethan Hunt could go back in time, this is one mission he’d choose not to accept.
Ethan believed he and his team were trying to prevent a rogue agent from stealing the CIA’s NOC list, detailing the real names of covert agents.
Turns out, their mission was a decoy, and Ethan is actually the target of the real mission—as he’s a suspected mole in the Impossible Mission Force. IMF director Eugene Kittridge believes Ethan is conspiring with mysterious arms dealer, Max, on Job 314 in which they supposedly plan to steal and sell the NOC list. The evidence against Ethan is incriminating: his nearly bankrupt family recently obtained $120,000 dollars and his entire team is presumed dead … except him.
So now, Ethan has a new mission. One might say an impossible mission, and one he gave to himself. He must prove his innocence to Kittridge by outing the real mastermind behind Job 316. His plan? Make contact with Max, steal the NOC list from CIA headquarters in Langley and confront the real mole (whoever he or she may be) himself. Along for the ride are Claire Phelps (wife of his dearly departed team leader, Jim) and disavowed IMF agents Krieger and Luther. Together, Ethan’s new team must infiltrate the CIA’s highest-security room and escape undetected.
With epic explosions, star Tom Cruise’s self-done stunts and Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme song (updated by Oscar-winning composer Danny Elfman), this cinema classic kicks off the Mission: Impossible film series with a literal bang.
Ethan’s care and concern for his team is evident, and they generally seem to have a positive relationship. On their missions, the team works well together.
During a later mission, Ethan instructs a character to avoid killing people as that is not their objective.
Throughout the movie, characters read and quote the Bible. At one point, someone angrily says, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.” Another reads a verse in the book of Job.
A character swipes a Bible onto the floor, and another says, “Those d–n Gideons.” While threatening Ethan, a character declares, “You want to shake hands with the devil that’s fine with me. I want to make sure you do it in hell.”
As part of a ruse, Ethan has an intimate moment with a woman on a dark street. He kisses her on the cheek, and they hold each other. Later, Ethan seems to have feelings for a married woman who sensually kisses him on the hand and cheek.
In one scene, a woman in minimal clothing lays passed out on a bed. In another, a character refers to his wife saying, “I’ve tasted the goods.” A woman uses her sexuality to manipulate someone.
In this quick-paced action movie, plenty of people die in a variety of ways. Several characters are shot and stabbed, and the bloody consequences of these actions are often shown. At one point, a woman is shot and killed. While riding in an elevator shaft, a character gets impaled. Plenty of characters die in explosions, though the graphic details of these deaths are not shown. One character dies after being poisoned.
Characters also refer to death. A man pulls out a knife with the intention of killing a security guard. Later, he threatens to cut a someone’s throat. We watch a character load a gun with the intention of killing someone. Someone reveals that Ethan’s father is dead, and it’s mentioned that if a mission does not go well, people could be executed.
We see several people covered in blood, including a passed-out woman. A man’s hands are also coated in crimson. In a stress dream, Ethan sees a blood-covered character speak to him. Later, we see a character wash blood off his hands. We also see a knife and a disk covered with blood.
Characters are physically aggressive toward one another. At one point, a man punches another man in the face. During another scene, a man kicks a security guard, knocking him out.
While Ethan is sleeping, a character wakes him up. Startled, Ethan points a gun at her. Ethan pins down a woman he suspects of lying.
A character kicks a person, almost causing him to fall off a fast-moving train. Someone gets crushed by a falling helicopter, and another character nearly gets impaled by its blades.
Ethan sticks a needle into a character’s arm. Due to an explosion, a character falls through glass.
Characters use profanity including one use of “bulls—,” one use of “g–d–n,” six uses of “h—,” three uses of “a–,” seven uses of “d–n,” five uses of “b–h” and nine uses of God’s name (including a crude use of Jesus’ name).
Several characters drink alcohol (or reference drinking). At one point, an apparently drunk couple walks out of a building together.
Several people smoke, including one time on an airplane.
Characters are falsely accused of drug smuggling. Another character refers to this situation calling one of them a “dope smuggler.”
To clear his name, Ethan spends most of the movie working against the U.S. government. As such, characters lie, steal, break into governmental buildings, hack into covert systems and disguise themselves as other people for the sake of their missions. Some characters deceive and betray their closest friends. And these betrayals can result in deaths of close friends.
At one point, a character disobeys an order from his leader. We also see a man vomit.
The Mission: Impossible movie franchise (based on an equally classic television show that ran from 1966-73) is beloved by many, and it’s no surprise why. Many of the scenes from the first film are, in a word, iconic: Tom Cruise dangling from the ceiling. The line, “This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.” Fight scenes on moving trains. I’d venture even individuals who are unfamiliar with the film would recognize those moments.
But the first Mission: Impossible film includes content concerns that might give families pause. There is a use of the s-word and several uses of other profanity including misuses of God’s name. While Mission: Impossible isn’t expressly sexual, Ethan doesn’t seem to have a problem shifting his interest between different women. Furthermore, some families might be uncomfortable with the casual use of the Bible as a plot device.
And of course, there’s a lot of violence. People get shot, stabbed and poisoned, and massive explosions kill characters. While these acts of violence aren’t overtly graphic, plenty of blood oozes from the victims. And when the violence doesn’t result in death, Ethan’s kicks and punches are played to make him seem valiant instead of violent.
If someone were to say, “spy movie,” I’d guess many people would think of Mission: Impossible. But despite its widespread appeal, parents will want to consider its numerous content concerns before sharing it with the whole family.
