Tightly written, exciting spy action thriller

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2020)

The live-action directorial debut of Brad Bird, mostly known for his animated feature films, such as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. And if you've seen those films, you know that Bird is passionate about the spy genre. As such it made perfect sense for him to helm a film in one of the biggest spy franchises there is.
Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, spy master extraordinaire. This time he and his team are on the run as their organization disavows them after a mission gone wrong. So it's up to them and them alone to stop the end of the world by nuclear annihilation.
What I like the most about this film are its locations and how tightly it's written. We travel all across the world and every single location is new, exciting, iconic and filled with superb action scenes. This is a film that makes me think that we should give more action films to animation directors. Bird has this fantastic way of filming stuff that really pulls you in. You always feel like you're there, in the room, with the heroes. And you can follow what they're doing and why they're doing it without the film having to cram it down your throats with exposition. The film's heavy reliance on practical effects only helps.
And it's a superbly written film. From the very first scene we're back in business. The scenes build on top of one another and there's nary a moment or line of dialogue wasted. Very much a movie that rewards its viewers when they pay attention. Once again, the film is surprisingly light on exposition, yet you can follow it just fine. And that's harder to pull off than you'd think.
Fantastic film. Easily my favourite Mission Impossible film and probably my favourite spy film in general. Give Brad Bird all the projects from now on.