I recall hating it, but mostly because it was more flash than substance. I tolerated the first movie well enough. I was a fan of the show, and at least it bore some resemblance. I just remember thinking that it'd be cool if they simply did a straight up Mission Impossible story. Convince a foreign despot to kill himself, or pit two groups of terrorists against each other. Even a mob story would have been alright. The problem is their conviction that every story has to be 4 layers deep with multiple mindfucks and an action sequence every 10 minutes.
I've never seen an episode of the series, so I knew nothing going into the first one. It's one of my favorites from the mid-90s when my wife and I pretty went to the movies pretty much once a week or more.
It was like the director had no concept of how actual fighting works.
Is there a fight scene in any movie that's realistic? Real fights involve a lot more wrestling on the ground and much fewer punches and kicks. And one well placed punch is going to knock 95% of people on their ass immediately.
Fair point, but some are better than others, and when you are constantly slowing down the action, it becomes much more apparent that what's happening is stupid.
IV, V and VI don't do it for me and they all blur together in my mind.
IV (i.e., Ghost Protocol, i.e., "Bogdan") is one of my wife's favorite movies to fall asleep to, so I've seen it at least a dozen times. I like it pretty well.
V (i.e., Rogue Nation, i.e., "The One with the Bass Flute") is several levels down. I saw it in the theater, but I'm not sure I've watched it all the way through since then but have seen many bits and pieces. I can't recall the plot too well, but the end sticks in my mind as a bit silly. It's one of those movies where the antagonist seems utterly unbeatable until he needs to be beaten.
VI (i.e., Fallout, i.e., "The One with the Guy Who Plays Superman") is also several levels down, and I barely remember any of the plot.
Regardless of V's and VI's flaws, neither of them feels to me like the director took a half hour plot and turned it into a two hour movie, which is how II felt.
VII is supposed to come out later this year, and Hayley Atwell is supposed to be in both VII and VIII (along with Rebecca Ferguson), so that's a positive.