Character "development" isn't always a good thing

Rating: 5/10 (12 August 2015)

I can see what they were trying to do. Ethan Hunt has always been the contradiction of a lone maverick with a team around him, and Benji, Simon Pegg's character, was definitely pushed to the front of the team this time. And therein lies the problem.
Much that Pegg can carry off his trademark "a bit useless but with some funny lines and wins in the end by trying to overcome being useless" in the many comedies he's acted out (Hot Fuzz being a notable deviation and possibly his best movie as a result), the problem is that seeing how all the highly trained operatives on all sides get routinely killed it is simply not credible that Benji would still be alive to take part in the story. And you certainly wouldn't want him on your team. His incompetence turns up in the first minute of the film and continues throughout, and really ruins what could otherwise have been a decent plot. This is, after all, the Mission Impossible franchise, not Johnny English.
Not to point the finger at Pegg of course, it takes a writer and director to think it was a good idea, he merely executed it and did so with ease, given it wasn't much of a departure from previous roles.
Fortunately, the rest of the cast was on good form. Cruise was Cruise (in a good way). Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Ferguson played impressively well, both having elements of deception to carry off which kept you wondering whose side they were really on. Ving Rhames felt a bit wooden, but then wasn't given much to do. However, Sean Harris was an excellent villain. And the casting of Tom Hollander as Prime Minister was amusing to fans of The Thick Of It or In The Loop.
Sure, there were gaffes too. Having BMW product placement meant that the characters were very conspicuous everywhere they went, which is hardly spy behaviour. And when Lane shoots inside a small sealed enclosure the glass magically absorbs the bullets instead of them ricocheting back and hitting him. And so on. But they're details.
This was going to be a 7-8* movie, and maybe for many it will be. But from the opening scene I had to watch with gritted teeth, so in the end it was only a 5 for me.