The thing I was most excited about going in to see Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was the director. Brad Bird has directed some truly wonderful movies, like The Iron Giant (which, I have to confess, I haven’t seen), Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. I was not disappointed. The direction was easily the best part of the movie. The acting was generally serviceable, but the script was pretty poor. The chief complaint I have with the movie is that so many of the scenes seemed to be there because they wanted a cool scene with a Bollywood flair, or a throwback to the first Mission: Impossible. I have no problems when a movie does something because it is cool, because I love action movies. My issue comes when it is obvious. An example of this could be that in M:I 3, I had no problem with the ambush on the bridge, because a bridge is a perfect spot for an ambush. In M:I 2, the motorcycle front wheelie move was designed by John Woo to be cool, and didn’t make sense in any other context. M:I – GP generally had a good reason for the action set pieces, but there were a few that just bugged me.

Alright, so I have harped on this movie for a bit, but here’s the thing. This is one of the best action movies I have seen recently. I was impressed by the action scenes and genuinely laughed a few times. Out loud even. As a random note, this movie had my new favorite cameo. Keep your eyes peeled for the German guy with long white hair who you might remember as Max’s employee in the first Mission: Impossible movie. While I had some complaints afterwards, I was thoroughly entertained while watching this. Ultimately, this isn’t as good as M:I 3, but I can recommend it to most anyone who likes a good action film.