6. Kurt Hendricks (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol)
Kurt Hendricks, aka Cobalt, is so a lot better in conception than in execution. Performed by Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist, Hendricks is precisely the kind of antagonist who ought to problem Ethan Hunt. A real believer in a nihilistic ideology, Hendricks needs to spark a nuclear struggle between the U.S. and Russia. That extremist perception provides the IMF no selection however to have interaction within the type of over-the-top motion that makes the franchise so particular.
The risk posed by Hendricks may ship Ethan scaling the Birge Kalifa, however as an individual, he’s a nothing onscreen. Nyqvist is aware of how you can play menace, as demonstrated in his many style roles in his native Sweden, or in American films like John Wick, however he has nothing to do right here however glower. Worse, he’s overshadowed by his minion Sabine (Léa Seydoux), whose private connection to Hunt’s colleague Jane Carter (Paula Patton) provides her an edge that Hendricks by no means achieves.
5. Gabriel (Mission: Impossible — Useless Reckoning and The Ultimate Reckoning)
The primary antagonist of Useless Reckoning and The Ultimate Reckoning, the agent recognized solely as Gabriel (Esai Morales) is about up as Ethan Hunt’s best foil. Not solely does he apparently have espionage abilities even larger than these of our hero, however he was straight chargeable for Ethan becoming a member of IMF. We study that Gabriel killed Ethan’s girlfriend Marie and framed him for the homicide, which put him on the IMF’s radar. Worse nonetheless, Gabriel resurfaces as an acolyte of the omnipotent AI often called the Entity, giving him a driving ethos to match Ethan’s want to avoid wasting everybody.
On paper there’s nothing fallacious with this characterization. In follow it stinks. Useless Reckoning and particularly The Ultimate Reckoning endure from a self-mythologizing that retains dragging the film again into the previous as an alternative of charging ahead, and Gabriel embodies that backwards impulse. Gabriel is given some massive moments of evil, straight killing fan favorites Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Morales has enjoyable enjoying up the villain position, however Gabriel’s worst sin is boring the viewers.
4. Jim Phelps (Mission: Impossible)
Earlier than we get additional, we should be clear: Jim Phelps is an effective villain. The truth that he ranks so low here’s a testomony to the power of the opposite baddies, not a knock towards Jim. One of many essential protagonists of the unique Nineteen Sixties tv collection (albeit portrayed by Peter Graves as an alternative of Jon Voight), Jim Phelps makes Mission: Impossible right into a legacy sequel, connecting the basic collection to a brand new set of heroes.
Nonetheless, Mission: Impossible has a bravery that almost all legacy sequels lack, turning the previous hero into the brand new villain. Phelps initially appears to die within the assault that takes out most of Hunt’s staff at the beginning of the film, throughout a mission that IMF boss Kitteridge later reveals to be a “mole hunt.” Nonetheless, Phelps returns late within the movie as first Ethan’s ally after which his enemy, the true traitor that Kitteridge seeks. Voight brings loads of gravitas to the position, however he struggles a bit with the stunts on the finish—although he was 57 when the film was shot, a yr youthful than Cruise was when filming on Useless Reckoning started.
