Don’t Miss Tom Cruise’s Most Overlooked Mission: Impossible Before It Disappears From Netflix

Alright, Tom Cruise devotees, here’s your advance warning: you’ve got a ticking clock if you want to catch (or revisit) what might be the most overlooked entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise on Netflix. The movie in question? ‘Mission: Impossible III’—and, for some reason, it’s almost always treated like the middle child everyone forgets about, despite being way more entertaining (and, honestly, emotionally complex) than most people give it credit for.

Quick Refresher: The Full Mission: Impossible Lineup

If you somehow lost track (understandable, there are a few of these), here’s how the Cruise-starring ‘Mission: Impossible’ series shakes out:

• ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996, Brian De Palma)
• ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ (2000, John Woo)
• ‘Mission: Impossible III’ (2006, J.J. Abrams)
• ‘Ghost Protocol’ (2011)
• ‘Rogue Nation’ (2015)
• ‘Fallout’ (2018)
• ‘Dead Reckoning’ (2023)
• ‘The Final Reckoning’ (coming in 2025)

We’re talking eight films and counting. Every single one: Tom Cruise, running, jumping, escaping, generally being Tom Cruise.

So Why Is ‘M:I III’ Underrated?

Here’s the thing: critics mostly liked ‘Mission: Impossible III’ when it dropped in 2006. It’s rocking a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is solid—yet still lower than every single sequel that came after it (seriously, they’re all in the 80s or 90s). It’s not that people dislike it. They just sort of… gloss over it. Most folks remember the Vatican heist or Philip Seymour Hoffman being terrifying, but forget just how good this entry is as a whole.

Why This One Actually Stands Out

Honestly, this installment is the only time the series seriously entertains the question: can Ethan Hunt really balance saving the world and having a semi-normal life? It leans hard into the idea of Ethan trying (and, predictably, failing) to have it both ways. Michelle Monaghan shows up as Julia, Ethan’s fiancée, and the movie finds an unusual amount of heart in between the explosions and double-crosses. You don’t get this level of ‘damn, he’s just a guy trying his best’ in any other entry. After this, let’s be real—Ethan is gradually rebranded as Action Jesus with a cliffside death wish.

The Highlights (And Why It’s Still Worth Your Time)

A few standout reasons to queue this one up before Netflix boots it:

Philip Seymour Hoffman absolutely steals the show as Owen Davian, the kind of villain you actually don’t want to run into in a dark alley. His delivery is ice-cold and about as unsettling as it gets. There's one scene in particular that sticks with you:

"I’m going to hurt her."

Not a lot of frills, just pure menace. And honestly? He’s still the best villain this franchise has pulled off.

You also get the first appearance of Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, who brings exactly the right amount of comic relief to the series. And if you like a good high-stakes Vatican break-in, that set piece is just as slick and ridiculously fun as you remember.

Here’s Your Deadline

‘Mission: Impossible III’ is hanging around Netflix until April 30, 2026. You’ve got time, but you know how the streaming gods are: blink and your favorites vanish from your queue. If you’re a Cruise loyalist or just someone who likes sharp spy thrillers with a little more humanity, don’t miss your shot to give this one the credit it deserves (or just enjoy Hoffman being delightfully evil).

You’ve been warned.