Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Well this was just pure fun action. I still prefer short haired Tom Cruise from the first, but that spy thriller feel is long gone from the series, and this is also good for what it is. I love everyone on the new team, though I miss Ving Rhames as a regular. The action scenes are, as everyone knows, spectacular - and unlike with Abrams in the chair, you can actually see what is going on! There is a decent amount of clever gadgets this time around - I liked the big mirror screen reflection - without anything being overused. A good thing the masks took mostly a backseat this time around. And seeing Tom Cruise showing some actual fear and hesitation when he needs to climb outside the building was a nice addition.
I do miss a proper villain though. The threat is mostly arbitrary nuclear death to the world this time around - but it get things going. I am also not generally a fan of how much hand to hand combat modern action movies tend to have these days. It just goes on and on, especially the last suitcase fighting scene dragged. I am kind of hesitant to continue with the next in the series, because they are even longer and action movies going way over two hours has been a big reason why I have almost stopped watching the genre in recent years.
Rating: 3.5