New 'Mission Impossible' compared positively with Bond

Reviews of Tom Cruise's fourth installment in the Mission Impossible series has been receiving positive reviews from the world's press. Some go as far as to compare the action adventure with 007 himself:

...the "Mission: Impossible" series is back on track, and this latest installment is packed with exotic scenery, fancy cars, crazy gadgets, beautiful women and handsome men. And except for an overlong prison-escape sequence at the very start, once the fuse starts burning on this one, it never slows down.
-- MSN

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"Ghost Protocol" isn't anything particularly groundbreaking or thought-provoking, but that's OK. It doesn't carry any air of pretension (I'm looking at you, "Quantum of Solace") and makes no qualms being silly and incredibly fun without ever succumbing to the utter stupidity of Michael Bay's "Transformers" films (though admittedly, I do see them as a guilty pleasure of sorts).
-- TheLantern.com

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"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" was directed by Brad Bird ("The Incredibles"), whose first stab at a live-action feature preserves the buzzy exhilaration and carefree absurdity of a cartoon.

The place where "Ghost Protocol" gets truly confusing is back inside the building, where our IMF heroes are pulling off a multilayered bit of "I Spy" trickery that seems about 19 times more complicated than "Inception." But that's OK. It's all an excuse for things to go horribly wrong.

If you widen your eyes and turn off your brain, it all adds up to cracking good fun. The Imax incarnation blows up the eye candy - the panoramic sweeps of Budapest, then Moscow, then Dubai - and the volume, which you'll feel in your teeth. I actually think the vibrations may have dislodged a filling.
-- SF Chronicle

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For his part, Mr. Cruise seems comfortable resuming his franchise duties, though there�s a palpable difference in his affect, even from the last movie. He still radiates intensity bordering on mania, but without the familiar �what, me worry?� air of invincibility. Maybe it�s age: he turns 50 next year, or perhaps Mr. Bird�s approach doesn�t sit well with him, even if it also fits. The wolfish Cruise smile seems tighter, at times reluctant, despite Mr. Bird�s efforts to lighten the mood with banter (much of it supplied by a chattering Mr. Pegg). Over the years Mr. Cruise, a divinely superficial presence in pop fodder like �Top Gun,� has grown progressively heavier, weighted down by stardom, ambition and the misstep of turning his personal life into a public drama. At times he can feel leaden.
-- NY Times

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