I was too young to understand the first Mission Impossible. I remember seeing it and thinking it was a confusing mess. As an adult I watched it again and I loved it! I was too young to not get blown away by the action of Mission Impossible 2. I saw it again as an adult and I thought it was a hot mess. I was an adult when I saw MI-3 and I thought it was the best of the lot.
The problem is that Tom Cruise went Oprah crazy. I’m talking jumping on a couch and talking crazy. Most people that I know never saw Mission Impossible 3. MI-3 gave me way too high of expectations for MI-4.
I liked the fourth Mission Impossible but I didn’t love it. I think they did a great job of giving the franchise some new life. They introduced some new characters and brought back some others from the past movies. The action is stellar and there is more comedy than in the previous installments.
There is nothing wrong with MI-4, but there is nothing that makes me love it. It’s a good action film, but it doesn’t compare to the third film in the franchise. One thing that I thought was a little odd is that Tom Cruise character seems to be a little less confident and a little bit clumsy. This is his fourth go around and at one critical point he acted scared to do what needed to be done. He has never shown a hint of fear. I also thought that in the last action scene he should have just quickly finished off the bad guy and then finished his mission. That guy seemed to give him a lot of problems.
MI-4 is rated PG-13 for action violence and one swear word. I appreciate the fact that there was only one curse word in the entire movie. That’s rare for movies these days. I give it one thumb up.
Rob’s Rating System =
Two Thumbs Up – A great film worth paying full price.
One Thumb Up – A decent attempt and worth seeing at a matinee price.
Thumb to the side – An ok film, but wait for video.
Thumb down – A stinker of a film. Don’t waste you life seeing it.
Did you see MI-4? If so what did you think?
I haven’t seen it. I will watch it when it comes out on DVD. However, I have to disagree with your assessment. It WAS the number one movie of the week. It can’t really have been bad, right?
I’m still half asleep. I thought you were giving it a thumb down.
Larry, glad you caught it. It’s a good movie. Just not two thumbs up good.
I really enjoyed it. It was just eye candy, but it was spectacular eye candy.
Ricky, agreed. Did you see the third one?
My wife says we did.
I just remember a lot of masks and explosions…which is all I assume is worth remembering?
I kinda agree and kinda disagree… let me explain… I have never been a HUGE Tom Cruise fan, yes he is a good actor but sometimes I think he tries to hard and goes over the top – like in most of his action films… with that being said I wasn’t a big fan of the other MI movies, they were alright, good story, good action but nothing I was waiting to rush out and see. This one on the other hand I was excited for… I don’t know why, maybe because they were breathing new blood into the francise with Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg… I know all the rumors are flying and Renner is denying it but I would LOVE to see him as the next Ethan… and Pegg while I don’t have a fat clue ( see how I snuck that in there ) got onto the MI Team, I loved him and would love to see him continue as the Team ” geek “. With all that being said… I think it’s time that Mr. Cruise realizes he is a bit old for the francise and let someone else breath new life into it… I’d like to see where they take it from here.
Brian, Simon was in the third one. Did you see that one? It’s amazing!
You know what, I just had to look up MI: III and look at the cast… he was in it… I must not have noticed him until I saw ” Shawn of the Dead ” and he became a BIG star… but now that I read the review I do remember him.
Brian, you should go back and watch MI-3 again. It’s a great movie!
Movies… I wish I shared your passion! I have seen movies that really knock my socks off, but I have a real hard time watching them because I am always finding plot holes and/or wildly impossible action sequences even beyond the obvious like super hero movies. MI-2 is the first movie I really noticed this in and since then I have been broken to accepting the fantasy of movies. The scene in MI-2 toward the end when the Ducati motorcycle is; a) driving up and down all over hilly, GRASSY ranges without wiping out all over the place and b) the Range Rover filled with people shooting machine guns was keeping up with and gaining on the DUCATI!!! In no world would a Range Rover catch a Ducati. Superman can fly, that’s a main point of the story, I get that, but just to laugh in the face of the obvious, shame on you Hollywood, shame on you! I have seen countless movies where these kind of shennanigans occur… And that, in short, is why I really don’t watch movies.
Scott, it’s all good. We still have music and basketball in common.
I haven’t seen it and probably will not. Mi has just never appealed to me.
Joseph, I hear ya. What kind of movies do you like?
I am big fan of prequels. I like it when they show the end of a series then go back and show how we got there. Like to me the way they did Star Wars was huge. X-Men series was good also, and I am sure I will dig Avengers.
Also, I spoke with a contact a couple of months ago at Cloud Ten pictures, and they are completely redoing the Left Behind series movie. I know the acting is rough, but I was a huge fan of the books. They are going big budget with the series, and are looking into some major labels to help cover it. So, fingers are crossed on this end that it will rock.
Joseph, I hope so. That movie made me so mad when it came out. The books were HUGE sellers. The year the movie came out the top two selling books were Harry Potter and Left Behind. Harry Potter the movie made over 300 million. Left behind barely made 30 million. That’s a slap in the face. Christians had a chance to impact and make a difference and they settled. I hope they don’t do that again.
I tried to focus on your review but kept getting stuck on your first line, about being too young for the first MI. Sigh. You younguns. My sister and I were so excited about that movie we booked it months in advance, kind of like we’ve done for The Hunger Games in March. They flipped the whole franchise on it’s head!
Clay, they did. It’s a great movie. I think I was in middle school or early high school. All I wanted was action. I was lost when I saw it the first time. Now I love it.
Did you ever see The Book of Eli? If you haven’t it will knock you flat on your bum… you don’t really understand till the very end and it ties everything together but it is an AMAZING movie.
Brian, I did see it. Pretty good flick.
You make it sound like M:I 1 was first shown back in the Stone Age. It was 1996. Thanks, now I feel really old. (smiles) Now you can look forward to M:I 5!
Daniel, don’t feel old. I wasn’t that young. I just was too young to understand that movie.
I need to offer a correction to your first sentence: “I was too young to understand the first Mission Impossible REMAKE.” Though I suspect you also would’ve been too young to understand the first Mission: Impossible — the tv show — so I guess the sentence is accurate, though not how you intended it to be. (If you’re anywhere near my age, you weren’t even alive when the show aired.)
Frankly, I have little love for the M:I movies, largely because I’m a fan of the original show. I saw the first movie, and it was okay, but I would’ve enjoyed it more had it come up with its own name and concept. Since they borrowed the name and concept, I viewed it through the lens of the original tv show…and I didn’t enjoy it like I enjoy the original tv show.
In summary: I’m going to stick to my dvds of the tv show.
Burrill, you are correct in that I meant the movie. I’ve never seen the TV show. You should watch the third movie. It’s really good.
I’d consider watching the third movie if you watched the first season of the tv series. Just be warned: it’s different. Less action, more thinking. It’s far-fetched in a sense, but not far-fetched in the action sense.
I just…eh. The movies seem to be too much like Just Another Action Movie with a name people will recognize. I usually cringe when Hollywood remakes an old tv show because they usually lose the spirit of the original in the process. The A-Team movie was a pleasant surprise, but that’s a rarity.
Burrill, another one of my favorite movies is The Fugitive. That’s based off a TV show and it’s amazing!
As a fan of the original TV series I was jazzed for a big screen blockbuster. I watched the first MI with rapt attention. I cringed, I cheered, I sweated bullets…I almost screamed at my TV when they turned my beloved Mr. Phelps into the bad guy. That was so out of character to turn the ultimate patriot into a traitor.
Haven’t yet had the heart to watch any of the other entries in the franchise.
I cosign this post. If the original series was awful, I’d be fine with their taking so many liberties with it. But it was the opposite of awful, and yet they still took so many liberties with it. Not cool.
MI1 was okay, I literally walked out of the theater during MI2, so I have not seen 3 and wont see 4. Maybe on DVD some day. Not a fan of outlandish, special effects based movies. I want to see stories and acting enhanced by special effects, not overshadowed by them.
Geoff, MI-3 has a great story! I was shocked by how great it is. You should give it a chance. It’s directed by JJ Abrams who knows how to combine great action with a great story…AKA Lost, Alias, Star Trek (reboot), and Super 8.
I had the same sort of understanding issue with multiple tv shows, such as “Doctor Who” and “Stargate” and many more along with movies. Growing up, I’ve noticed that when going back to re-watch these things I get a greater understanding and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at my sheer enjoyment of these films and series. I can’t say much of anything about MI due to the fact that I haven’t seen any of them. I prefer to let myself slip into these sorts of things, like how I happened to be going to the movies with my mom when we got a recommendation from a friend to see “In Time.”
Sean, I still haven’t seen In Time. I will as soon as it comes out on DVD.
yea, was a good flick. appreciate the review. I’m glad they didn’t wear the masks. eesh.
Rob, that was a surprise. They were on there way to, but it didn’t happen.
Totally average. The plotline was thinner than my dad’s hair!
John, that’s funny. What’s the last movie that you saw that you really liked?
Notebook .. sorry just kidding. Probably Faster – violent but brilliant moment of redemption vs revenge in the movie. Not one for my wife! Superb cinematography.
I’m still trying to figure out how to put the DVD into the VCR….
Just kidding.
I think I’ve only watched the first and the second one. Movies are so darn expensive these day: you gotta pay for the gas, pay for the ticket, pay for the drink, pay for the popcorn, and then find a seat that’s not right in the front row.
So I usually wait until they come out in the Dollar Cinema, or on DVD.
I will make an exception with Marvel’s The Avengers, coming out next year though 🙂
Ed, that was a funny first line. I usually go to matinees. They cost half the price. At my theater if I go before 12 PM it’s only $5. I see a lot of movies so I do what I can to not pay full price.
I agree with Ricky’s assessment: spectacular eye candy! Especially in IMAX.
Chad, we saw it in IMAX but only because we had a giftcard. It cost us $30 bucks. That’s crazy. I’m not sure I’ll do that again unless it’s a movie called The Dark Knight Rises.
I have not seen the first three mission impossible movies and the new one looks pretty cool. Does the plot start over or did the last three movies end on a cliffhanger?
I’ve never seen any of them, and the fourth one is getting really good reviews. So what do you think of each one, even if you haven’t seen the new one?