Mission: Impossible’s Iconic Mask Tricks Cause VFX Artists’ Minds To Melt: “We Totally Miss It”

Mission: Impossible’s iconic mask tricks are causing VFX artists’ minds to melt. The movie series, which began back in 1996, is centered around IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team’s various assignments. Gaining critical and commercial success over the years, the Mission: Impossible franchise has become well-known for its action sequences and impressive stunt work. The movies also feature some surprising reveals, with characters wearing masks to disguise themselves as key figures related to their missions.

In Corridor Crew’s latest installment of “VFX Artists React“, the group reacted to different mask scenes from the Mission: Impossible series. In the first, which sees Hunt taking on the appearance of Philip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III, they broke down how the one-shot sequence was crafted, including its hidden cuts, followed by a scene from Mission: Impossible II, in which they praised the hidden CGI and found their minds melting figuring out how it was done. Check out Corridor Crew’s reaction to Mission: Impossible’s mask tricks below, at around the 0:58-5:16 mark:

How Mission: Impossible Continues To Use Mask Tricks

A number of characters have worn masks throughout the Mission: Impossible franchise, but most of the more memorable scenes involve reveals. Though reception toward Mission: Impossible II was mixed, that moment where Hunt took off his mask of Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Šerbedžija) is still thoroughly convincing to even the Corridor Crew. As the group touched on in the video above, it likely took a lot of time to achieve that effect and because a physical mask was incorporated, the reveal may look more realistic.

While the usage of face masks varies depending on the installment, Mission: Impossible‘s latest entry continues with this familiar trick. There are masks in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, with an early scene revealing how Hunt was able to sneak into a high-profile meeting and bypass security by pretending to be someone else. In another instance, where Cruise’s character envisions a plan, he and Grace (Hayley Atwell) wear masks of Zola and Alanna Mitsopolis in the hopes of gaining the key to stopping the Entity.

In past movies, there have been a lot of scenarios where characters use face masks, which included some posing as Hunt, namely Mission: Impossible II‘s Dougray Scott. It is interesting then, to see how the effects have evolved over the years as the Mission: Impossible franchise grew. A popular thing to feature, it is worth wondering if any more mask tricks will be added in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.

Source: Corridor Crew