The world in my eyes: MI4 - A thrilling ride

So, finally Ethan Hunt is back, with a bang. In fact, I even think that this movie is better than the third one, also it falls short a bit when compared with the first two movies, which really catapulted Tom Cruise to top Hollywood stardom.

Unlike normal spy movies, where the main guy is loaded with countless items and weapons, in MI4, the legendary agent was put into a difficult situation with very little help from outside after his organization was framed in the bombing of Kremlin. However, it was right there that he shone, without armor, all by himself. The support was scarce, and the mission was really impossible, as he and his team of a female agent, a techie and a former agent turned analyst had to run away from the pursue of Russian agents, stop the bad guy and save world peace at the same time, with the luxury of time not on their side at all.

With the resource shortage, Ethan had to be really hand on, including climbing up and down a skyscraper Spider Man style, with lousy gadgets that almost killed him in the process. Moral of the story: Never rely too much on gadgets in life and death situations, especially those flimsy looking ones. Seriously. No joke.

The movie was a feast for the eyes, with thrilling action scenes that were beautifully arranged and looked really dangerous. And, OMG, Tom Cruise looked very good in them. Yeah, he was older, but he was still in good shape, and his smile was still as charming and deadly as usual. Enough said. In fact, I much prefer this to the previous movie. It's more thrilling. It's more exciting, and it's much less predictable.

This is Brad Bird's debut live action movie, after the success of The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and it's a beginning that many directors are willing to die for. Although movies of this scale are hard to fail, when they really fail, they often fail big time. Thank God, this one did not. Brad managed to take us through a thrilling two hour drive that was peppered with some tasteful jokes and humorous moments, which takes skills, experience and taste to make it happen and not get too carried away. So, well done.

Ethan is the hero, but he is not the lone hero. He received lots of helpful assistance from his team mates. While the female agent, Jane Carter, fought fearlessly alongside with him, Dunn the technical genius made sure that all the locks were open and all the access secured in time for the hero to carry out his tasks. In this IT era, such guys are really indispensable, and their often nerdy behaviors are a pretty good source of laughter as well. Of course, it will be a mistake to forget about Brandt, the reluctant agent who had to forget his past so that he could look forward to the future. His unwilling assistance in time of need was precious in helping the whole team make the impossible become possible again.

Overall, the movie was a joy ride that was worth our time and money. We still loving watching Tom flash his smiles on screen, and the supporting cast is no joke either. And I was pretty excited about seeing the seamless integration of nowadays gadgets, such as GPS tracking devices, MacBooks, iPads and iPhones into the movie, making them recognizable but not too evident to the point of lame advertising. Well, who does not want to see Ethan flash the same phone as his, use the same earpiece as his, type on the same laptop as his, and use the same devices as his to make impossible things happen? Well, I bet a lot of people will rush to Apple Store to buy Apple products as last minute Christmas gifts after watching this movie just because they are too cool and powerful.

There was no love scene in this movie, probably because the mission was so urgent that none of the agent could find enough time and energy to play around. But that is really unnecessary in this movie. And although the female lead is quite sexy, I bet we will remember her more for her acting than her look or sexiness. In fact, I even feel that she looks a bit old. Maybe they should cast Anne Hathaway for the next one? But image Anne getting intimate with Tom, oh no, it sucks. Big time. Forget it.