Just the worst!

Rating: 1/10 (11 May 2008)

De Palma was trying to take a great TV suspense series and turn it into an action movie, and fails to be either. The plot is too thick and twisty for an action movie (hence, all the confusion for the people who wanted an action movie), and there's too much mayhem and uncontrolled improvisation to work as a tight, suspense filled caper like the original series. For those who wanted an action movie, I'm told De Palma dumbed down the other MI movies, thus moving it further yet from the spirit of the original series.
As far as an action movie goes, it's got plenty of action, but it's hard not to roll your eyes at Cruise surviving that bomb blast towards the end. Yeah, real good IMF-type planning there, Cruise. You planned on surviving that bomb blast and getting catapulted up to the next car all along, right? But what REALLY blows is the way De Palma ruined the premise of the series by making Phelps out to be the baddie. Don't let De Palma get a hold of "Columbo", or he'll have the lieutenant become a serial killer, with Tom Cruise, his partner, tracking him down in a car chase and killing him in some fiery explosion at the end. Complete waste of time for anyone who likes either genre.