darth_ender said:
Treated by my sister-in-law and her hubby, I went to see the new Mission: Impossible movie. I'd seen M:I and M:I2, but I never saw the third and had little desire to see this one. Hearing it was directed by Brad Bird of Pixar fame gave me higher hopes, but still I had concerns. You see, I am a big fan of the original Mission:Impossible series from the 60s, and seeing the first two movies handle it the way they did was just not what I wanted: instead of a clever team that was always one step ahead of the bad guys, it was a clever, ever arrogant Tom Cruise performing super human feats with a tiny bit of help from his "team." Oh, and there was one mask "surprise" after another after another.
Ghost Protocol really did it for me. It showed real teamwork, it was frightening. It had surprisingly good humor and even seemed to poke fun at the overused mask plot device: the good guys never use any. The opening even was a modern take on how the original series used to open. The whole movie was a far more true to the source material, while still being modern and showing an extremely athletic (but not overly unrealistic) Tom Cruise. My only gripe was the slower final act, which would have a hard time following what preceded it. It was a surprisingly good and exciting movie, and pleased the true M:I fan inside me.
doubleofive said:
You might like 3. It was a lot more down to earth than 2, but I haven't seen 4 yet. Anything with more Simon Pegg (who was featured in 3) is great in my book.
Mr. OFive--I finally took your advice. I watched M:I3 last night. That was a very exciting movie. Still not the real Mission: Impossible formula I really enjoy, but a very exciting and enjoyable action flick in my mind. As you said in our discussion on this back in December, it is very dark, and Hoffman, who is not really physically intimidating at all, makes a frightening antagonist. He really comes off as truly ruthless. The action was quite exciting, and there were times where I felt desperate watching them. In spite of others' protestations, Abrams is still a good director in my mind.
So my official order of the four films:
Ghost Protocol (light-hearted, somewhat self-parodying, action, and closer to the true M:I formula)
M:I3 (very exciting, a few nice surprises, frightening at times)
M:I (an adequate action flick, with no true Mission: Impossible times in spite of its sanctimonious desecration of the sacred character Jim Phelps)
M:I2 (40 mask "surprises" + front wheelie while shooting out gas tanks x pointless white dove trademark = stupid movie)