After one-and-a-half decades, this is now the fourth film in the series, and the series overall has had massive ups and downs. The first original film has memorable moments, but the sum of its parts never was greater than the parts themselves. The second film is just whack. The third managed to tie in quality substance and action, with only some annoying shakey-cam to disrupt the experience. As such, I believe this fourth installment is the best of the series; it finally manages to weave action, storytelling, and style in a seamless fashion.
The film starts off quite fast and remains evenly-paced throughout. There are some excellent action setpieces throughout, filled to the brim with pursuits, chases, and fights. Even when the characters aren’t running for their lives, the espionage proves very intriguing as various situations are set up that require the characters to use their skills to get by.
The story for this doesn’t have the same investment in the characters as MI:III did (especially since there is no standout villain), but quality characterization and progression still exists in the background. What really matters here is the political intrigue, which cleverly sets up a scenario where the characters lose their backing organization and they are all forced to complete their mission with limited tech (although what tech we see is still pretty damn cool) and no backup. It’s easily one of the more satisfying spy thrillers in the genre, and certainly one of the most exciting; it’s just not quite as deep in terms of characters or themes.
Thankfully, the photography and editing for this film are quite sane and stable; the camera is not as jittery as MI:III. Acting is pretty fun all around; Tom Cruise generally has his ups and downs, but I certainly enjoyed watching Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, and Jeremy Renner in their roles. It was kinda interesting to see Michael Nyqvist as the villain. Writing is decent. This production spares no expense on the sets, props, costumes, locales, and special effects. Music is pretty cool.
4/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4/5)
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