Brad Bird all but confirmed as "Mission: Impossible IV" director

Aw shoot. I'm gonna miss him being disreputable!

 

*looks at IMDB*
Oh, he does have a part.
His lack of a presence in the trailers as one of the main team members then is indeed worrisome.

 

I'm guessing Luther is going to be Ethan's go to guy for his weapons and what not. I am pretty sure it was announced before hand that he will have an extremely limited role in the film. I could be misremembering this.

 

This is the closest thing I could find to an "official" announcement, but the video they link to has been taken down.

 

First review I've seen, and says it's the best one yet.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/1225/mission-impossible-ghost-protocol/

I don't quite agree with his assessment of the 3rd movie though. Yeah it may have just been a glorified Alias episode, but that still puts it head and shoulders above the vast majority of lame, overblown action movies that are released nowadays.

 

A new clip has been released:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spe89THgfy4

Seems like Simon Pegg is getting the best/funniest scenes again (not that I'm complaining...).

 

^ I agree, I thought the third was far and away the best MI movie, it was the sort of movie I'd been expecting and hoping for since the big screen adaptation was announced.

Ghost Protocol sounds like a lot of fun from that review but I wonder what happened to Michelle Monaghan's character (Mrs Hunt) from the 3rd movie?

 

So is Ving Rhames even in this one? His IMDB page says he is, but I don't recall seeing him in any of the trailers or commercials.

I don't have any great attachment to his character, but he still seems like someone that should be in there.

 

^ I think he and the producers fell out over his salary.

 

I thought he was going to have a cameo (and, judging from that review, it will probably be at the end of the movie)?

 

Several clips of the movie were released in the last few weeks, one of them quite long (about 3 minutes) and it shows that Bird can handle action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQYNzJXJnDI

The majority of critics also seem to like the film, so I hope that it is successful and Bird can do his "1906" film afterwards.

 

After The Incredibles, how could anyone doubt that Brad Bird can handle action?

 

Well, with "The Incredibles" he did have complete control over the environment, could place the camera wherever he wanted, no real life restrictions...
Although: Thinking about it, all the storyboarding that has to be done for animated film probably did help him.

 

My thoughts exactly.

I started to watch the clip, then decided I didn't want to be spoiled for the big screen. Definitely going to dump the munchkins with their grandparents over Xmas, so me and the wife can see this. The Dark Knight Rises trailer is only a bonus.

 

The film opened today and I went to see it. I'll put my review a few lines below.


WARNING - EXTREME SPOILERS!!!! STOP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT KEY PLOT POINTS.


I've really enjoyed this series of films to date because of how much fun they are. Given that the previous MI film, Part 3, is my favourite of the series, I came into this one with high expectations, but I have walked away disappointed. I tried to talk myself into thinking I enjoyed the film, but I just couldn't do it.

It's my least favourite one There were some things in there I liked it, but it's just the least remarkable of the series so far. My biggest gripe is the villain, he's so boring in the sense of lacking any menace, you actually forget about him. I have a few more points, but later on after you've all gone to see it. The strange thing is that it has been getting good reviews, perhaps the best so far for an MI film.


The plot centres around the demise of IMF following a horrific bombing in Russia - the Kremlin. IMF is framed with this and the American Government has no choice but to close down IMF to prevent another World War. On paper, this is a really good plot device and arguably the most adventurous for the franchise so far. The trouble is, we never really experience this. For instance, after the fall of IMF, we still see the team check into the best hotels (in Dubai) wearing the best clothing, carrying the latest technology and armed with just the right amount of weapons. To be fair, some of this equipment breaks down and obviously cannot be replaced. These moments are the most thrilling of the entire film because we see them having to think on their feet. This should have been the starting point of MI4. That is, a naked, vulnerable and humbled shell of IMF going to great lengths to survive. We hardly see any of this.

As discussed above, the worst of the entire series. All we really know about him is his name and that he's a nuclear extremist. Again, like the plot, a very worthy device for this film and seems great on paper. But we never get to experience just how extreme the guy is. No quotes, barely any screen time and lacking a lot of context. Compare this to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, you can't help it feel let down by MI4.

As for the team, I was pretty happy with them, but I kept asking myself, "where's Ving Rhames?" He's there, just in a totally pointless 30 second cameo in the end. WTF?! But, I like the team they had. A little too much comedy from Simon Pegg, but other than that, pretty decent.

As for Tom Cruise, easily his most uninspired and tired performance in the series to date. MI3 saw a pretty rounded performance from Cruise. It had the emotion, he was the tough guy when he needed to be plus he also had just the right amount of charm for the audience to like him without overselling him. Here, he's either pissed off or depressed.

It's not a bad film per se. There is some fun to be had but it's nowhere the standard of the previous films. It's hardly a night out but definitely a worthy night in for when it gets its home release. I own the trilogy so far, I don't think i'll buy this one. If I do, i'll wait for the sales specials.


2.5 out of 5

 

All I read was the last paragraph and your ***** ranking.

I'm still hoping I'll like it, it looks fun.

 

The sandstorm clip looks great, but I find the soundtrack extremely annoying.

 

I honestly have a hard time imagining it being worse than the 2nd movie. That one was so utterly ridiculous and over the top that it had me tuning out almost immediately.

 

The worst thing about MI2 was that I had already seen ALL of the stunts in a Dolph Lundgren movie. Where he was a bodyguard afraid of milk or something like that. Directed by John Woo.

 

95% at Rotten Tomatoes. Not bad for the fourth movie in a series.