Christophe McQuarrie is a filmmaker who first rose to prominence in the mid-1990s, primarily thanks to writing the 1995 mystery/thriller film The Usual Suspects, which netted him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. By the start of the 21st century, he directed his first feature film, and then returned to screenwriting for a while before resuming his directing career. He's best known now for frequently collaborating with Tom Cruise, having directed a total of four films (and counting) with the megastar.
Overall, his filmography is still modestly sized, at just five films, but is also undoubtedly impressive, with a clear sense of each movie he tackles being bigger – and arguably better – than the last. Those five movies – released between 2000 and 2023 – are ranked below, starting with some decent films that fall a little short of greatness, and ending with remarkably satisfying blockbusters that are deservingly considered among the best action/thriller movies in recent memory.
5 'Jack Reacher' (2012)
Jack Reacher was the first time Christopher McQuarrie directed a movie starring Tom Cruise, and it was the former's first directing credit in 12 years. Before this, McQuarrie had also co-written and co-produced the 2008 war/thriller movie Valkyrie, which starred Cruise and could arguably stand as the first collaboration between this dynamic duo, but Jack Reacher represented McQuarrie in full creative control. While it kicked off something great, when it came to the partnership between director and actor, the film itself does leave a little to be desired.
It's a fairly by-the-numbers action/thriller/mystery movie, with a certain level of competence yet not much by way of things that are truly exciting. Cruise stars as the titular character, and he's mostly at home playing someone a little more hard-edged than his usual action movie characters, with Reacher having a mysterious past, connections to various shady people, and combat expertise that makes him a genuine physical threat. Yet the grittiness is dulled by the film's PG-13 rating, and the infrequent action scenes don't manage to be nearly as exciting as what's found in the trio of action films McQuarrie and Cruise would make together in the years after Jack Reacher.
4 'The Way of the Gun' (2000)
The Way of the Gun is certainly an interesting directorial debut for Christopher McQuarrie. Despite being the movie of his with the lowest budget of them all, it has a good deal more to offer than Jack Reacher, being an uncompromising, violent, and sometimes mean-spirited modern Western/neo-noir/action movie. It has some flaws that stop it from being one of the greatest movies of its year, sure, but in no way could it be considered one of the worst movies of 2000 either.
It's a movie that starts with an introduction to two very crass and violent criminal drifters, and doesn't waste time getting them wrapped up in a complex series of events, largely kicked off by their kidnapping of a pregnant woman. They clash with various other people all after the same woman and/or money, leading to an inevitably bloody climax. It starts and finishes well, but the whole middle section of the movie – which is more dialogue-heavy – can drag at times, ultimately weighing the film down a little.
3 'Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation' (2015)
Three years after directing Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, Christopher McQuarrie helmed the fifth movie in the Mission: Impossible series, Rogue Nation. This turned out to be the first of several Mission: Impossible movies directed by McQuarrie, and broke what had previously been a series tradition (of sorts) where every new movie in the franchise was directed by a different filmmaker (and notable ones at that: Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, and Brad Bird doing 1 to 4, respectively).
While the best was still to come when it came to McQuarrie doing Mission: Impossible movies, Rogue Nation was still a great start to his time with the long-running action/spy series. The plot saw Ethan Hunt and his team clashing with another organization known only as The Syndicate; a group of highly-trained individuals that seemed deadset on taking out the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). It's a rock-solid action movie, and delivers pretty much everything you could want out of a Mission: Impossible movie.
2 'Mission: Impossible – Fallout' (2018)
It's very unlikely that anyone would've come out of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation feeling unsatisfied, but then three years later, the sixth movie – Fallout – made the previous movie feel like a mere warm-up by comparison. Fallout was a spectacular action movie that took things to new heights, especially regarding the large-scale action scenes and impressive stunts, with a familiar premise regarding the IMF team being on the run while trying to save the world executed well to boot.
But for as compelling and well-told as the narrative was, it's the over-the-top action sequences that ensured Mission: Impossible - Fallout's status as a modern classic within its genre. Tom Cruise seemed to push himself even more than before here, jumping out of a plane thousands of feet in the air, participating in brutal hand-to-hand fights, and being front-and-center in some amazing chase sequences, too. And McQaurrie captures said stunts and action scenes even better than before, with Fallout feeling wonderfully visceral and non-stop when it came to the barrage of stunning things it was willing to show its audience.
1 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' (2023)
But in the end, for as great as Mission: Impossible - Fallout was, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise outdid themselves again come 2023, with the release of the seventh film in the series, Dead Reckoning Part One. It took the series to dazzling new heights in various ways yet again, and also stands out for making a rogue A.I. program its central villain, which feels very topical given the rise of A.I. in 2023, and all the various concerns that have come from the advancements made in that sphere.
Beyond the (once again) solid story, Dead Reckoning Part One also has some of the most remarkable action in recent memory, and quite arguably the best set pieces of the series so far. It moves at a fantastic pace and doesn't feel its length (and it is a long movie, at 164 minutes). If the story that started in Dead Reckoning Part One concludes well with Dead Reckoning Part Two, the pair of films could well comprise one of the greatest action epics of all time.