The new Mission Impossible movie will be released on May 23rd. “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” marks the end and the apotheosis of the 29 year long franchise that has only ever gone forwards and upwards, faster and faster. I’ve seen every movie. I do not know what any of them are about, I don’t know a single character’s name or motivation or internal conflict or any of that film school kind of stuff that I love. And yet I also love the Mission Impossible movies. Because all I remember of them is that I had a blast and stupid grin on my face watching every single one, the whole time.
Think of the one trick pony at the traveling circus… but it’s a damn good trick. Think of heroin that has been purified down to the fundamental and essential elements only. Think of always needing a bigger fix, and that every movie has delivered. Inject it into my eyes already, I’m about one Mission Impossible movie away from feeling normal.
Even the title is two concepts slammed together at the highest level of abstraction from any possible theme or significant detail. Mission Impossible. Could you imagine a Mission Possible franchise? No. No one can. There is nothing historical, political, cultural, or even factual about them. Guns and motorcycles. Babes and explosions. Action sequence upon action sequence. It is entertainment in its purest form. If you look into it at any other level than that it ceases to make any sense at all and becomes an unfathomable web of meaningless dialogue, costumes, and settings, blurring so many lines no cinephile or film critic could ever untangle any of it. It’s not madness. On the contrary. It makes perfect sense. Who wants character development when you can have raw magic? Who wants cinema when you can have a movie? How can you have a cake made of only icing? How can you have pure, uncut, heroin without the prick of the needle? Pull away the veil and what are you left with? Nothing. The fundamental meaninglessness of all things. Which is a good place to start, maybe the best, but a bad place to stay. The nihilism is attractive because it’s true, but it is not what we all seek. Rejoice in it. Wrap it up like this, hire a glass eyed cult-member maniac to do all his own stunts, and what do you have? Liberation. Mission Impossible is a good thing. And good is better than true.
Mission Impossible has taught us that no matter what they say, people just want the magic. In relationships, in products, in spirituality, politics, and so on and so on. If we are given the truth too easily, we ignore it, mock it, and move on, because we already know the truth at some level: The world is uncomplicated, material, and miserable all the way through. Fundamentally nothing matters, and we have to build our own church. Maybe with Mission Impossible we have. Because if you can make us wonder, even for a second, you can fool us. To do that you have to be capable of something impossible, true magic. The ecstatic freedom of a general attitude towards movies: That if it does not pretend to be something it is not, I don’t pretend it is either. Good and bad, right and wrong I leave to God. Mission impossible knows what it is. What it is is what it is. Are you what you are or what?
Matthew Cameron 
The new Mission Impossible movie will be released on May 23rd. “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” marks the end and the apotheosis of the 29 year long franchise that has only ever gone forwards and upwards, faster and faster. I’ve seen every movie. I do not know what any of them are about, I don’t know a single character’s name or motivation or internal conflict or any of that film school kind of stuff that I love. And yet I also love the Mission Impossible movies. Because all I remember of them is that I had a blast and stupid grin on my face watching every single one, the whole time.
Think of the one trick pony at the traveling circus… but it’s a damn good trick. Think of heroin that has been purified down to the fundamental and essential elements only. Think of always needing a bigger fix, and that every movie has delivered. Inject it into my eyes already, I’m about one Mission Impossible movie away from feeling normal.
Even the title is two concepts slammed together at the highest level of abstraction from any possible theme or significant detail. Mission Impossible. Could you imagine a Mission Possible franchise? No. No one can. There is nothing historical, political, cultural, or even factual about them. Guns and motorcycles. Babes and explosions. Action sequence upon action sequence. It is entertainment in its purest form. If you look into it at any other level than that it ceases to make any sense at all and becomes an unfathomable web of meaningless dialogue, costumes, and settings, blurring so many lines no cinephile or film critic could ever untangle any of it. It’s not madness. On the contrary. It makes perfect sense. Who wants character development when you can have raw magic? Who wants cinema when you can have a movie? How can you have a cake made of only icing? How can you have pure, uncut, heroin without the prick of the needle? Pull away the veil and what are you left with? Nothing. The fundamental meaninglessness of all things. Which is a good place to start, maybe the best, but a bad place to stay. The nihilism is attractive because it’s true, but it is not what we all seek. Rejoice in it. Wrap it up like this, hire a glass eyed cult-member maniac to do all his own stunts, and what do you have? Liberation. Mission Impossible is a good thing. And good is better than true.
Mission Impossible has taught us that no matter what they say, people just want the magic. In relationships, in products, in spirituality, politics, and so on and so on. If we are given the truth too easily, we ignore it, mock it, and move on, because we already know the truth at some level: The world is uncomplicated, material, and miserable all the way through. Fundamentally nothing matters, and we have to build our own church. Maybe with Mission Impossible we have. Because if you can make us wonder, even for a second, you can fool us. To do that you have to be capable of something impossible, true magic. The ecstatic freedom of a general attitude towards movies: That if it does not pretend to be something it is not, I don’t pretend it is either. Good and bad, right and wrong I leave to God. Mission impossible knows what it is. What it is is what it is. Are you what you are or what?
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