I'm a huge fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise and am truly surprised how positively this film seems to have been received. Maybe it makes a difference if you see it in the theatre? There's a lot of action but it all feels very robotic. The set pieces themselves are interesting enough but the continual raising of the stakes at each turn robs these moments of most of their power.

My central issue with this movie is the plot. One calibrates one's expectations accordingly for an action blockbuster but the number of twists and reversals in the plans of each of the characters quickly reaches comic proportions, again robbing the film of the tension it's so desperately reaching for. I also found it really weird that nobody in the film seems to notice that the villain's plan is essentially the same as it was in Ghost Protocol.

McQuarrie did a great job with Rogue Nation but Fallout convinced me that Cruise's original concept of bringing in a different director each time who brought with them his (or maybe one day her?) sensibility gave this franchise a unique edge. I can understand why you wouldn't want to risk Mission: Impossible 2 again but the price you pay is a movie that feels like Mission: Inevitable.