I have been a fan of all but one of the Mission: Impossible movies (M: I 2 is the only one I dread when I do a rewatch). Between Tom Cruise doing many of his stunts and how intense the action scenes can get, they don't make movies like this today. This is the seventh movie in this franchise, and if Crusie has his way (or doesn't die on set doing a stunt), there will be many more.

Ethan Hunt (Crusie) and his team must stop a dangerous weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

This series of movies has always delivered great action sequences. I wouldn't say that any action sequence in this movie is one of the best in the series, but there are some very good ones. There is one in an airport that is very tense but low on traditional action that is great, and there is a car chase sequence in Rome that is one of the best in the movie. The big action set piece of Crusie driving a motorcycle off a cliff is impressive but not as remarkable as climbing outside the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) or hanging off the side of a plane.

It might sound like I am pessimistic about this movie and don't want to be. The Mission Impossible movies are easily some of the best action movies ever made. I hold them to a very high standard, and while this was not as good as previous entries in the series, it is still an excellent movie. Hunt and his team face the most dangerous threat they have ever come up against. Given that this is part one, I don't feel like I can judge it fairly. This is part one of two, and feels like it. When the movie ends, the story is unresolved, and Hunt and the rest of the IMF don't ride off into the sunset; there is still evil to fight.

8/10

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some language, and suggestive material.

2hr 43m