Mission Impossible 4

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Director: Brad Bird
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, and Simon Pegg

First I must share my history with Tom Cruise.  I used to love him when Top Gun came out.  Then I liked him but didn't have my Top Gun feelings for him anymore.  Then I was totally indifferent.  Then the Katie Holmes stuff happened and I could not have liked him less.  Seriously.  I never liked Holmes in the first place (I only watch Dawson's because of Pacey).  I really couldn't picture them together and I still don't get it.  I swore I'd never go see a movie of his in a theater and that I'd avoid seeing any of his films on DVD or cable.  I've been mostly successful.  I would have avoided MI: 4 but it looked kind of fun and my local, incredibly cheap theater was showing it meaning Tom would only get a dollar or two of my money. 

All that said, I kind of enjoyed MI:4.  It was fun and exciting and full of action.  I was mostly impressed with the directing.  Brad Bird transitioned well from animated Pixar flicks to live human stuff.  His directing of action sequences was good.  The one-on-one conversations where people were kind of trying to share emotions or things like that left me wanting.  I don't need feelings and discussions of the past.  I need more of Cruise hanging off the side of a the tallest building in the world.

The acting was fine.  Everybody served their characters well.  I would have liked to have seen more from the bad guy played by Michael Nyqvist (from the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).  We get some discussion via intel and see one flashback via video.  His character wanted to blow everyone up via nuclear war because he believes the best of humanity would rise from it like a phoenix from Chernobyl ash.  Again, his character would have been better served from a little more development.

Anyway, I'd recommend the movie.  There were lots of times I rolled my eyes at the sheer impossibility of someone walking away from whatever car crash or stunt they threw at us.  But it was fun and a good popcorn movie.  I still don't endorse Cruise as an actor/producer of movies though, but I'll leave moral movie decisions to you.