How The 'Mission: Impossible' Films Execute The Perfect Heist

Within the last two decades, the “Mission: Impossible” films have promised audiences two certainties. The first: Tom Cruise will undoubtedly perform some sort of intense, life-threatening stunt. And the second, which may come as a surprise, the films will offer a feverishly constructed heist– like the ‘Fallout’ caper where the team breaks the villain out of jail–that grips audiences from beginning to end. While audiences and critics alike are still reeling from the experience of “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” let’s take a look back at the formula of the film’s franchise.

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In a video essay by Lessons From The Screenplay, we decode and follow the clues as to how this franchise has made an interesting array of heist films throughout its run. In comparing two heist sequences from two separate movies, audiences and fans of the franchise are given further insight its type of thefts. By examining the way each film sequence establishes goals, sets obstacles, and make an impossible situation by making it worse, there is a subversion. Not only is the audience all the more entertained as they grip the edge of their seats, but more is at stake in the world of the film.

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It may come as no shock that the films have a set formula. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and hell, when it comes to ‘Mission Impossible,’ fans like to know what they’re getting. Instead, we look forward to whether those expectations will be met and see how the new installments can test and top what we have come to know from the series thus far. The video essay goes into great detail, adjusting our focus from the heist of the film away from the intense action sequences or the befuddlement that comes with the wrenches thrown in the plan. It all makes for a strengthened viewing experience.