Dear Mr Cruise, See? You Can Act!

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2012)

I walked into this movie a) not having seen any of the previous Mission: Impossible films, b) not being a fan of Tom Cruise, and c) bracing myself for the worst. Surprisingly (incredibly so), this film rose way above all my expectations and offered a thrilling and entertaining afternoon. First of all, Tom Cruise was great. Seriously, this is the first time that I actually thought "Hey, this guy can act!" He was very convincing in his role as Ethan Hunt, and the fact that he performed all of his stunts by himself left me speechless. If nothing else, throwing himself off the highest building in the world earns Cruise a few brownie points. The supporting cast was very good, especially the always superb Michael Nyqvist playing the crazy evil dude who wants to blow up the whole world. I have nothing but praise for all the actors.
The plot...well, it's not original, it's been done countless times before, and yet it works. Evil genius wants to start a nuclear war, only one who can stop him is our protagonist, no-one is on his side except his small team, all the while he's dealing with the loss of his beloved wife, etc. It's cliché, but it's fun. The action sequences are brilliant and the stunts are simply breathtaking. A large number of scenes left me leaning forward in my seat anxiously and rooting for Cruise. And the gadgets are amazing.
The film accomplishes everything that it set out to do. It's one of the best action flicks that I've seen in a long time, and it kindled hope that maybe Tom Cruise is finally becoming worthy of his celebrity status. Girls, this is not strictly a "guy" movie: I promise you'll enjoy it. Go watch!