Loud, Brash and Proud.

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2011)

During movie debates with pals, the common enquiry of 'which is your favourite of the trilogy?' will often arise. Well usually I can easily answer that straight away, whether it be the early Star Wars, Godfathers or Miller's Max films. But Mission Impossible when pondered isn't cut and dry. Brian De Palma's 1996 opener, was a well crafted classy affair. A tight detective thriller laced with superb action scenes and great cast, modernised for a new younger audience, whilst staying faithful to the original series. John Woo's 2000 effort, was very cool, very action packed and a great piece of action cinema from the Hard Boiled Director. MI:3- Well, all I can say is that if you take James Bond's most action packed episode and times it by ten, you may be somewhere near the mark!
Pre-credits we are thrown into a grizzly scene. Cruise's Ethan Hunt strapped to a chair, bloodied and bruised, pleading to a menacing Phillip Seymour Hoffman to spare the life of a bound and gagged Michelle Monaghan. It's a brutal and unforgiving opener,but thats just Abrahams letting us know what sort roller-coaster we're going to ride for the next two hours. Then the famous fuse is lit and titles roll.
Is was a ballsy move by he Director to play the 'intrigue with a scene and then work on the weeks leading up to it' card. But it works very well. Making Ethan's every decision a tense affair, as you know what is in store for him and is fiancé, Monaghan's Julia.
The plot is a basic one that you will have seen many times before: Retired agent pulled into the field on that one last job and things not going quite to plan. But that's all we need. There is the odd twist, but nothing overly complex. Anything more in-depth would only complicate matters and detract from the astonishing action set pieces, and impressively clever gadgets on display.
The action comes thick and fast, machine guns rattle, buildings are detonated and helicopters chase one another. There are no limits here, and at times you almost feel out of breath. The sturdy yet basic plot, allows for multiple types of missions, from a hostage rescue right through to an extremely impressive caper on the neon skyline of Shanghai.
The gadgets utilised by Ethan's team of specialists( A returning Ving Rhames, pilot Jonathon Rhys meyers and the slinky Maggie Q) are high-tec and a touch sci-fi, but similar to Bond never overly unbelievable. The infiltration of the Vatican is a standout section of the movie, where we get to see most of them put to use. To speak more about this scene would only spoil things but it is stylishly put together and very slick.
As a villain Phillip Seymour Hoffman is perfect. Arrogant, Sinister, chilling and cold. By resisting the temptation to overplay him, Hoffman's Davain is completely believable which only adds to his creepy presence. The fact that his past crimes and future intentions are only hinted at yet not fully explained is also a clever notion. We are aware that he is a black market businessman who will murder to get his way, but is he just finance driven or is there a taste for world domination? Open to debate.
Is this the best of the trilogy? possibly. Although light in tone, with a few humorous moments, ''Humpty dumpty sat on a wall'', but never silly or tongue in cheek. It's extremely easy watching even with it's harsher moments, where Abrahams pushes it's 12a certificate to the absolute limits.
With Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the works ,with once again, a different Director, The Incredibles' Brad Bird. It could wrap Ethan and the IMF crew's adventures up nicely.
So which is your favourite of the quadrilogy?