“Hey, Tom. Paramount here. Yes, the studio. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a new summer franchise out of a 30-year-old TV show, and have it virtually improve with each sequel over 20 years…”
 
And so Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt has halo-jumped, rock-climbed, motorcycle-duelled, and face mask-revealed his way across dozens of countries to unravel all manner of world threats in the Mission: Impossible movies. He’s had help along the way, featuring a cast of series veterans, like Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, and occasional players like Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton. Hunt hasn’t had too much help from the IMF, though, considering how many times they think their star employee has gone rogue.
 
A trademark for most of Mission: Impossible‘s lifespan was bringing in a new director for each entry, ranging from John Woo to Brad Bird to Brian De Palma, giving each entry a unique spin. But since Rogue Nation, Cruise (who also produces) has found a perfect collaborator in Christopher McQuarrie. He was the first to direct two M:Is in a row, with Fallout raking in the series’ best box office and critical marks. McQuarrie will direct the next two films, titled Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two, due out on July 12, 2023 and June 28, 2024, respectively.
 
Before we see what death-defying hijinks they get into next (we don’t think Ethan’s been to the moon yet), we’re ranking all Mission: Impossible movies by Tomatometer!
 
 
 
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2
 
6. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Tomatometer score: 56% 
 
Critics Consensus: Your cranium may crave more substance, but your eyes will feast on the amazing action sequences.
 
Synopsis: Tom Cruise returns to his role as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of Mission: Impossible. This time Ethan Hunt leads his IMF team on a mission to capture a deadly German virus before it is released by terrorists. His mission is made impossible due to the fact that he is not the only person after samples of the disease. He must also contest with a gang of international terrorists headed by a turned bad former IMF agent who has already managed to steal the cure.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Ving Rhames 
Directed By: John Woo
 
 
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible
 
Tomatometer score: 66%
 
Critics Consensus: Full of special effects, Brian DePalma's update of Mission: Impossible has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted.
 
Synopsis: When U.S. government operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his mentor, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), go on a covert assignment that takes a disastrous turn, Jim is killed, and Ethan becomes the prime murder suspect. Now a fugitive, Hunt recruits brilliant hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and maverick pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him sneak into a heavily guarded CIA building to retrieve a confidential computer file that will prove his innocence.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Ving Rhames
Directed By: Brian De Palma
 
 
 
Mission: Impossible 3 cast
 
Tomatometer score: 71%
 
Critics Consensus: Fast-paced, with eye-popping stunts and special effects, the latest Mission: Impossible installment delivers everything an action fan could ask for. A thrilling summer popcorn flick.
 
Synopsis: Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international broker of arms and information, who is as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear -- including the woman Hunt loves.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup
Directed By: J.J. Abrams
 
 
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
 
 
Tomatometer score: 93%
 
Critics Consensus: Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works.
 
Synopsis: Blamed for a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the entire IMF agency are disavowed by the U.S. government, while the president initiates the Ghost Protocol. Forced to go "off the grid" -- left without resources or backup -- Hunt must somehow clear the agency's name and prevent another attack. Complicating matters even more, Ethan must undertake the impossible mission with a group of fellow IMF fugitives whose actual motives are suspect.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton 
Directed By: Brad Bird
 
 
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation
 
 
Tomatometer score:  94%
 
Critics Consensus: Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation continues the franchise's thrilling resurgence -- and proves that Tom Cruise remains an action star without equal.
 
Synopsis: With the IMF now disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, a new threat -- called the Syndicate -- soon emerges. The Syndicate is a network of highly skilled operatives who are dedicated to establishing a new world order via an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Faced with what may be the most impossible mission yet, Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a disavowed British agent who may or may not be a member of this deadly rogue nation.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson 
Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie
 
 
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
 
 
Tomatometer score: 97%
 
Critics Consensus: Fast, sleek, and fun, Mission: Impossible - Fallout lives up to the "impossible" part of its name by setting yet another high mark for insane set pieces in a franchise full of them.
 
Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team join forces with CIA assassin August Walker to prevent a disaster of epic proportions. Arms dealer John Lark and a group of terrorists known as the Apostles plan to use three plutonium cores for a simultaneous nuclear attack on the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, Saudi Arabia. When the weapons go missing, Ethan and his crew find themselves in a desperate race against time to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
 
Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg 
Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie