Tom Cruise
Mission Impossible—How Tom Cruise Proved He is the Biggest Action Star in the World
It’s Tom Cruise’s world, we’re just living in it
Have you watched Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning? I watched it just last week, and all I can say is, after Mission Impossible: Fallout, I thought the latest installment would be as the title suggested, dead. However, I was proven wrong.
Somehow Tom Cruise has done it again. He has managed to star in another yet timely on-trend movie that brings to light the hottest topic in today’s conversation; Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, he served us a feel-good blockbuster that we all desperately need.
After watching Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, I began to think how time, and time again Cruise rarely disappoints when it comes to Summer blockbusters.
Last year Cruise starred in Top Gun: Maverick. When the trailers came out, I expected the movie to pay homage to an irrelevant archaic movie. I thought Maverick would be a swan song from Paramount attempting to get a hit for the summer. It was anything but that.
Top Gun: Maverick was the highest grossing movie of 2022 and broke a number of records. It was Tom Cruise’s best opening movie of all time at the box office with USD 126.7 Million over three days. On top of that, it was his highest grossing movie of all time earning USD 1.49 Billion globally. After the pandemic, the world needed to be entertained. Tom Cruise definitely knew how to deliver.
Looking back at his career and the movies he has been in, Tom Cruise remains the best action star of our generation. Today’s action stars such as Henry Cavill, Idris Elba, and Chris Hemsworth have played their fair share of world-saving characters on the screen, and yet, nobody brings joy, excitement, and adornment quite the way Tom Cruise does.
For Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, audiences who have seen the movie have gone to see them in the theaters for the second and third time. In an economy where everyone is thinking about every penny they are spending, people are willing to go back to watch the same movie over and over paying full price. That’s how good the movie is and how strong Tom’s star power is.
This year Cruise is 61 years old. Despite his golden age, Cruise still does his own stunts. A trait he has been doing throughout his career and still does today. This makes him such a great and beloved actor. We go to see Tom Cruise’s action movies because his movies give us an authentic experience of excitement and thrill.
However, not only do his daredevil stunts make him stand out in a sea of leading action stars, but the movies he chooses to star in always have that winning formula to be a colossal and timeless blockbuster.
Remember Minority Report? Even today, Minority Report is still often used as a reference in other movies and as a cultural reference in everyday conversations.
Unlike the major hits of today, Cruise’s movies have no hidden political sway or agenda. His movies transcend generations, gender, and politics. Everyone needs a feel-good movie where they can just walk into the theater for a good two hours and just escape the crazy world that we currently live in. And Tom Cruise understands that.
His previous action films body of works includes Mission Impossible (8 movies so far), Knight and Day, Tropic Thunder, War of the Worlds, Collateral, The Last Samurai, Minority Report, Days of Thunder, Top Gun (2 movies), Jack Reacher (2 movies).
Without a doubt, Tom Cruise has proven time and time again, his action films not only pack theaters but are constant box office hit.
The first Mission Impossible movie where Tom Cruise played Ethan Hunt came out in 1996–27 years ago! Imagine the type of stamina it takes to do all the Mission Impossible stunts. Jumping off cliffs, and climbing the Burj Al-Arab, one of the tallest buildings in the world, takes an incredible physique, the result of strict discipline. And Cruise is able to pull all these stunts on his own.
Below is a quick recap of all the Mission Impossible movies and how Tom Cruise, as a producer, has kept the theme of the movies on track with the priorities and trends of the world ensuring audiences stay engaged.
Mission Impossible
In 1996, Cruise appeared as superspy Ethan Hunt in the first Mission Impossible movie which he produced. The audience is introduced to Ethan Hunt’s character as he tries to uncover a mole in the IMF who framed him for killing his entire team. It became a box office hit, and The New York Times praised Cruise’s performance stating that Tom Cruise has found the perfect superhero character, which goes well with his screen personality.
Mission Impossible II
Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission Impossible film, Mission: Impossible II which came out in the year 2000. In this movie, Ethan Hunt is tasked with destroying a genetically modified disease called “Chimera”. The film was directed by John Woo and took in $547 million worldwide. The movie went on to become the highest-grossing movie of the year.
Mission Impossible III
Mission Impossible III grossed nearly USD 400 Million. In this installment, Ethan Hunt is trying to recapture an arms dealer who escaped prison. The film was released in 2006 and was received positively by critics compared to the first two Mission Impossible films.
Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol
In Ghost Protocol, Ethan Hunt and his team were shut down, after they were implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin. Hunt and his team had to find the real culprit themselves without any resources or backup in an effort to clear their name. The film was released in December 2011 and received box office success and high critical acclaim. The film grossed USD 694.7 Million worldwide and became Cruise’s biggest commercial success at that time.
Mission Impossible — Rogue Nation
Rogue Nation focuses on Ethan Hunt and his team after they were disbanded and hunted by the CIA. At the same time, they also have to face The Syndicate, an international group comprised of rogue government agents from around the world causing global mayhem. The film was released in 2015 and was a success grossing USD 688 Million.
Mission Impossible — Fallout
In Fallout, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team try to prevent a group of bioterrorists called The Apostles from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Apostles were connected to the Syndicate (the antagonist in Rogue Nation).
Fallout was the most positively received Mission Impossible film compared to the previous films. It grossed over USD 791 Million worldwide.
Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning
In this latest installment of Mission Impossible, Ethan Hunt faces the ultimate supervillain and threat to humanity: Artificial Intelligence, known as “The Entity.”
The movie has only been at the box office for a few weeks, and as of July 19, 2023, it has grossed USD 264.8 Million worldwide.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning reminds us that when we see a Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie, we will get unrivaled quality entertainment. Tom Cruise is the most impactful and visionary action star of our generation.
After seven Mission Impossible movies, it is hard to imagine Ethan Hunt played by anyone else. Lucky for us, Cruise has said that he will keep on making the Mission Impossible movies.
The Mission Impossible movies, with its unending success, critically acclaimed reviews, and sky-high earnings, has proven, without a doubt, it’s Tom Cruise’s world, and we’re all just living in it.
