That’s right, I said it.
I would say that the theme of the entire franchise is pure excess. It turns everything up to 11 and then overclocks it, and that just makes for a wonderful experience. The “out-JohnWoo-ing John Woo” is a perfect example of that, but really they all do the same sort of thing.
It’s definitely not to everyone’s taste, but it knows exactly what it’s trying to do and delivers on it masterfully.
The only other franchise that comes close to that level of Pure Dumb Fun is Fast and Furious, but by necessity the vast majority of action scenes are vehicle based, whereas MI has more of a mix.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoyed the over-the-top installments from the 3rd onwards, but the 2nd was just too bizarre. I enjoyed the scene in the bunker, where tied up mook was wearing Hunt’s mask, and the antagonist only realized it when he noticed his bandaged finger, I thought this was inventive and smart writing, but the rest of the movie was just too fucking much.
