Easily the best in the series. The action is fantastic and it's surprisingly pretty funny too every now and then. Jeremy Renner is a great addition and Paula Patton is just really sexy in the last third. The Dubai scenes are definately the highlight of the movie. Some of the shots are just breathtaking. Loved it and I really hope they make another one with the same cast. A-

PAULA. PATTON.

OMG.



Not fair how great this movie was. Surpassed my every expectation. The last 5 minutes were a bit off though... Oh well.

Absolutely loved it. The gadgets and tech was awesome - what I loved about them was they were all fairly realistic and didn't work 100% of the time either like most technology in this world. Simon Pegg was hilarious as always, and Tom Cruise was solid.

A-

Josh Holloway needs more work.

BJs Grade:

A

outstanding production. Best of the series fo sho.

I still maintain that in Real IMAX, the Dubai building scene was one of the best I've ever seen.

Completely engulfed the entire theater. It was breathtaking. Bravo to Brad Bird.

This is probably obvious, but yeah, AWESOME.

Saw it again yesterday with a different group. Amazing the 2nd time.

Anyone else just love that opening credit montage too??

Entertaining from start to finish, though I don't understand how anyone could prefer this one over MI1 or MI3. The action felt more intense and innovative in those two, has memorable villains, and emotional impact (wife aspect in MI3). The only categories that set it above/on par with those are the comedy, the gadgets, the BMW and the French chick.

In case I see it in IMAX, then I may change my mind with the action aspect.

M:I-3 feels a bit TV (I say this with 3 being my second favorite after GP). M:I is clever but that's about it.

Fixed.

Mission: Impossible has one really great set piece and nothing else of note. Ghost Protocol has one really great set piece and a couple other good ones.

I like the first M:I, but it's hardly something special. I'd kill to see M:I-3 with GP's level of action.

But De Palma's Mission: Impossible plays very nicely as an espionage movie, with the icy atmosphere and sideways glances and everything. This is a vibe the franchise has abandoned since in favor of special effects and stunts (though I haven't seen Ghost Protocol yet), so it's hard to compare the rest to the first.

I'd actually say that's a credit to the series. Each film feels different.

John Woo's entry blew, though.

This was probably the least "spy" of the four movies. But this was the most action packed.

I'm usually not a fan of going to midnight screenings because even though I function best at night, I for some reason have become a little woozy at the midnight screenings I've gone to and have wound up walking out of each film at least a little disappointed. I bring this up only because M:I 4 woke me the fuck up. Holy hell this was a fun movie, and this is coming from someone who apparently saw it in fake IMAX (though the theater I went to - AMC Downtown Disney 24 in Walt Disney World - doesn't refer to their biggest two theaters that way, it's something called AMC ETX... "ETX Includes 20% larger floor-to-ceiling screen, breathtaking sound and digital projection that is higher resolution than HD."). I bring it up because the theater has two balconies, I was on the top one, and I was blown away by the Dubai scenes. By being at the tippy-top of the second balcony, I had the perspective that I was seated a little higher than the screen. So to see those scenes looking down, although I imagine it's a little more impressive in IMAX, you could see all the scope that was intended and I was blown away by it, along with the rest of the movie. It's the only other environment besides IMAX that I would recommend watching the film in.

I guess I shouldn't be shocked by this, but the action scenes reminded me very much of the action scenes in The Incredibles in that they were visually inventive and more importantly fun to watch. Doing that with animation is one thing because you can do anything, but the fact that Brad Bird pulled it off here in live action, and in his first film no less, is just unbelievably impressive to me. Can we get Bird to work on Bond 24? This next compliment is going to sound like an insult, but you'll see what I mean in a second. If he wants he can be the next Michael Bay. He can clearly make a blockbuster and a great one at that. And the great news is that unlike Michael Bay he can make his characters interesting. I can't wait to see what he does next.

If I have one small criticism it's the villain. The villain is easily the weakest part of the film and is easily the weakest villain in the franchise. There's very little to him although I guess one could make the argument that that was intentional because the focus was more on the team and the action set pieces this time around. If this film had a Phillip Seymour Hoffman like character in it then I think this could've been something really special. Instead I guess it will have to settle for being the best action film of the year and the best in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

****½ (A)

Oh, and Paul Patton is absolutely stunning.

And for fun...

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible II

Nice list, Magnus.

1. MI4
2. MI
3. MI3
4. MI2

Mixed feelings on Ghost Protocol, eh?

Also...

PAULA PATTON.

OMG.

It can't be said enough.

Lists!

1. Mission Impossible
2. Mission Impossible IV
3. Mission Impossible III
4. Mission Impossible II

I need to see IV again (tomorrow) before I can move it past the original but this series is so strong overall. I LOVE M:I-3 and it still only ranks #3 in the series. But it definitely ranks #1 for villain with PSH.

The villains have always been a weak point of the MI series.

The more I think about it, the more I like it. Probably going to bump the grade to A.

1. Mission: Impossible IV
2. Mission: Impossible
3. Mission: Impossible II
4. Mission: Impossible III

The heroes have been too.

Fucking awesome Best in the series

M:I4 A+
M:I3 A
M:I A-
M:I2 B-