Reading the headline, the similarities between the Mission: Impossible movies and Top Gun: Maverick I thought of first were the death-defying action and of course the leading man of both franchises, Tom Cruise. However, these franchises have something else in common as the actor and Christopher McQuarrie spoke about the importance of creating singular stories within a franchise.
What I mean by singular stories is, the movies are able to be comprehended without seeing the films that came before them. As the director and actor released Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, they spoke about what the seventh M:I movie has in common with Top Gun's legacy sequel. While speaking with Film4 Christopher McQuarrie, who directed M:I 7 and co-wrote and produced Maverick, explained this major similarity between the two series, saying:
We don’t want you to have to leave the narrative and to remember another narrative to understand what’s going on with this one. We don’t assume you’ve seen another Mission: Impossible. The same way with Top Gun: Maverick; we didn’t assume you had seen the original Top Gun. It had to be a movie that stood alone. And it had to be a movie that ended conclusively, even though it was a Part 1.
As a casual fan of the M:I franchise specifically, I think these two have accomplished this goal every time. I have never seen the Mission: Impossible movies in order, and I watched all seven over the course of many years. So, the overarching plot is not something I can really recall. However, as McQuarrie said, it’s not necessary.
As shown in the moderately reviewed Dead Reckoning, the IMF is recontextualized, and we’re reintroduced to Henry Czerny’s Kittridge, who was only in the first Mission: Impossible before appearing in the seventh film. However, his importance is explained in the Dead Reckoning. Even if you haven’t seen the 1996 movie in years (like me), you’ll still understand his role in the story. McQuarrie continued to speak about this example, explaining:
We took that to the extreme in that we reintroduced the concept of the IMF. But all of that was serving story, which was by bringing back Henry Czerny. Bringing back a character from deep in Ethan’s history, it felt important that we recontextualize what the IMF is and answer some of those questions that really have always been taken for granted. The notion of: ‘Should you choose to accept?’ The notion of where Ethan Hunt comes from and how he became this person.
Not only did McQuarrie and Cruise effectively bring back a character in a way that didn't require viewers to see the six movies prior, this isn’t the first time they’ve done it. Not only does the Mission: Impossible franchise focus on making individual stories for each installment, the same thing was done with Top Gun: Maverick.
Tom Cruise had to be convinced to make Maverick, and it was the story between his pilot and Goose’s son Rooster that sold him. While the film is deeply linked to its predecessor through this relationship, it added scenes that explain the connections. It’s not necessary to have seen Top Gun before seeing the sequel. While it would help, it’s by no means required. The same can be said about M:I.
Along with this similarity, Cruise also noted how he wants these franchises to have longevity because he wants to keep making Mission: Impossible movies and pushing what’s possible. The actor said:
Here we are all these years later. My hope was to be able to have it continue, but also to be able to challenge myself as a storyteller, as a filmmaker and really live, you know, to become part of my childhood dream, which was to make movies and travel the world.
Clearly, what Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie are doing works, because Maverick was a massive success, and M:I 7’s sequel Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two will appear on the 2024 movie schedule. This method of making movies understandable for all audiences is fantastic. It also makes it so you don’t necessarily have to do homework before making your way to the movies to catch the latest action flick from this dynamic duo.
