Finally saw
M:GP... it was pretty decent. A
B from moi. I really didn't like the "masks can be made in three minutes" development from the last movie, so it was nice to see that go by the wayside.
I'll admit right up front that
M:I-II is one of my favorite movies. Yes, it's ludicrous and over-the-top, but it also carries real emotional weight, at least for me. I mean, come on, until the action-centric third act, it's a near scene-for-scene remake of
Notorious, one of the greatest films ever. I really liked the love story between Ethan and Nyah, and I loved Dougray Scott's villain.
But
GP? Yes, the individual sequences are very well-done. Yet the plot revolves around a guy who wants so badly so launch a few nukes against anyone at all that he'll kill himself trying to do so? Sounds like a rejected 007 brainstorm from the
80s.
And what is with these white-collar villains being able to hold their own in fistfights against our super-agents, with absolutely no explanation or set-up? Same thing happened in
Quantum of Solace (and maybe also
M:I-III?), and it ticks me off.
Lastly, the final scene and reveal (developed part-way through production) just felt all over the place and arbitrary, with an overpowering sitcom flavor.
Myself, I have no idea where I'd take this series, or the 007s either, if I were handed the reins. Maybe it's time to retire the standard Bond/Hunt Anglo super-spy model of Europe-centric Cold War-era glory, and start using homegrown heroes of Middle Eastern descent, who can freely move around and operate in the Arab world as potential natives. Or maybe a Korean-American, out to infiltrate North Korea, alone. Enough, in other words, with the same ol' ticking red nuclear clocks, luxury hotels, opulent galas and gee-whiz gadgets.
... But, so long as the status quo makes
GP-sized earnings, I guess that that's Hollywood's
real mission: impossible.