Better than MI2, on par with MI1

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2011)

OK, a few things before the review: a) I hated MI2--the MI series went from team mentality to Tom Cruise as James Bond outing; b) enjoyed MI1 for its team ops, but ended becoming a little too much of a Tom Cruise vehicle; c) skipped MI3 as this was during Tom Cruise's Scientology head-trips; d) was convinced by my friends to watch MI4 after someone bought my ticket.
MI4 is definitely better than what I expected for the Tom Cruise MI flicks. Yes, it still is a Tom Cruise love fest, but definitely much more team dynamics than I expected. If there was a real star here, it would be Jeremy Renner as Brandt, the IMF analyst with a past; he is tough, but brings humanity to the character he plays. Also, glad to see that Paula Patton was great as Jane, another IMF agent, without being the romantic object of Ethan Hunt--plus, it's great to see a female hang as tough as the other IMF agents. Simon Pegg does bring in the comic relief, but sometimes could be a little annoying. While I like Michael Nyqvist from his role in the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series, his role here could have easily been played by another actor (Stellan Skaargard comes to mind). That being said, action got to the point that it got a little too overwhelming at times. The Burj Khalifa scene, while fun to watch, had so many twists and turns (as well as big holes--who (guest included) wouldn't notice a guy going up all these windows or glass falling from it)) it became humorous. The race scene in Mumbai was a laugh--if you've been in Mumbai, you know that traffic is so anarchic, any vehicle in a chase would end up in a crash. At least it got realistic when there was a big pedestrian crossing.
In the end, for me, this was a better MI than I expected, but still the emphasis is on making Tom Cruise look great. As my wife, who is from India said: Tom Cruise is the "Govinda" of American films. For the uninitiated to Bollywood, Govinda is an popular Indian actor-dancer who will find himself in the most unlikely and impossible of action scenarios, but will always pull it off with a smirk of his pearly whites.