Far From a Great Movie--But Not Bad if You're Expecting The Worst

Rating: 4/10 (4 August 2015)

Expectations are everything when it comes to watching a movie. The last time I watched this film, I was watching it in preparation for the latest MI movie, and seeing it for the first time since 2000 just made me sick to my stomach. It is a far cry from the original in the franchise, and there are a multitude of scenes that just make it a silly movie that is overdone with action and goofy camera work. At the time I gave the film 1/10 stars. I was just terribly disappointed in it, compared to the other Tom Cruise MI films.
That said, I recently gave it another try and went into things expecting an absolutely atrocious film. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was a fair bit more stomachable when I went into it expecting the worst. The film is directed by John Woo, who is a famous director in Asia, and as such it emulates ninja movies and the like. There are plenty of martial arts scenes, along with gratuitous scenes of explosions and silly slow motion effects.
Still, if you can get past the cinematography, this isn't that bad of a film. There are certainly worse movies out there. Well, OK. It's still a bad movie. But not crazy bad. Just bad. A long story short the script isn't horrible, it's just the style of the film that makes it hard to watch. And the final fight scene is just ridiculous. I'm giving it 4/10 stars, with thoughts of a 5. It's close to mediocre, but still bad overall.