Long-time Filmbobbery readers may recall that I have not been a big fan of the Mission: Impossible film franchise with Tom Cruise. I even wrote a diatribe about the first two films in my fourth issue, titled “Missions Ridiculous.” Well, that tide has turned. I liked the third movie and this fourth film may be the best of the bunch.
As directed by Brad Bird, the IMF force is disbanded after a disaster in Red Square, leaving a handful of surviving agents (Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner) to clear their reputations by stopping a madman from igniting a nuclear apocalypse. The weakest aspect of the mission, in fact, is the villain, played by Michael Nyquist. I’ve seen him referred to in web chatter as a boring villain, and it is hard to dispute that. Nyquist plays a single-minded, rather expressionless character who only has one dramatic scene, and that is in a video replay.
Where Bird’s film excels is up in the air. Our world is mostly horizontal (thanks, gravity) but that doesn’t stop Cruise from leaping, rappelling and literally flying all over place in his action scenes. The most dramatic takes place on the tallest building in the world in Dubai, and the scenes there are jaw-dropping. Seen on an IMAX screen, there are shots that will give anyone with a fear of heights the willies. The other big action set piece occurs at an automatic car parking facility, and again the action is vertical. At one point Cruise decides that the quickest way down is in one of the cars! The action in this movie is incredible.
If Bird was as proficient with the story details as he is with the stuntwork, this movie could have been a masterwork. But there are holes in the story through which you could drive a car or fly a missile. It’s impossible to take seriously, and that negates some of its finest aspects. Overall, it’s a fun adventure with serious overtones that would be laughable in less capable hands. Enjoy it for what it is: illogical but thrilling escapist entertainment. ✰ ✰ ✰. 25 Dec. 2011.