Pretty mainstream spy thriller. One of the stronger films in the franchise.

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2015)

Though this isn't the strongest of franchises, even in context of the spy genre alone, this re-imagining of the sixties TV show isn't too bad. So far Ghost Protocol is my favorite in the series, though it could get passed by Rogue Nation this summer. Still, this first installment is much better than 2 and 3, though they both fixed a couple of things that were wrong with the first film. Despite having the least action of the four, the movie is still predominantly action driven. It's overall quality is fair with an equal amount of flaws and strong points.
The story is complicated, but not in a Prestige-esque way that makes you want to see it again to figure it out exactly. The confusion comes mostly from a number of technicalities that are hard to keep track of and are kind of vital in order to understand the story. It is possible to follow everything, but it takes so much concentration that it's likely to detract from the overall experience. But, as I said, it's action driven, so all you really need to know is that it's Ethan Hunt and company against everyone else and a couple of shifty allies. The area that the screenwriters could have improved in the most was the character interaction. We see that Ethan feels betrayed at various times by Kitteredge, Jim, and Claire, but the technicalities of the plot and slightly lacking character writing gets in the way. That's not to say that they did a terrible job writing the characters, but it just could have been better.
Though it's considered an action film, the quantity of action is more fitting for a thriller. There are long stretches where we are deprived of any kind of fight scene and there is a lot of dialogue. The action sequences mainly come at the beginning and end. The more exciting scenes in the middle are just sort of tense and might feature some spy gear, such as the iconic scene where Ethan breaks into the IMF to get hold of the NOC list in the ultra high security room. Even almost 20 years later, some of the spy gadgets are still pretty cool like Jack's "gum" and the video glasses. There are no true fight scenes like in the subsequent three films (but that saves us from the annoying amount of slow motion used in MI:2).
The acting is fair, with Tom Cruise giving the best performance. I thought Luther was played pretty well, though Jim and Claire both could have stepped it up a notch. Kitteredge felt rather clichéd, like a cross between an overly official Bourne antagonist and a threatening Bond villain. Since I viewed it long after it's release, I can't say whether the technical execution is good or bad, but it feels satisfactory given the technology at that time.
It's not as good as the Bourne films or the Daniel Craig 007 installments, but might be appealing to fans of either franchise. Again, it's confusing and has less action than you would anticipate, which are both things for prospective viewers to be conscious of. I've heard that it isn't very true to the old TV shows, but given the thirty year hiatus, that isn't terribly surprising. However, the old theme is modernized well and from what I've read, nobody is very intent on comparing the show to the films. So I would probably recommend it to any action fan, especially if you want to get caught up before seeing Rogue Nation in July, but it won't top your lists. Overall Rating: 8.1/10.