When it comes to big-budget American action films, thefranchise has been the gold standard for almost a decade and a half. Earlier entries have their admirable qualities — iconic set pieces, stunning camera work, Philip Seymour Hoffman — but ignited a new era of formal virtuosity and “how-did-they-do-that” audacity for the franchise.
’s dialogue has a purple, faintly campy quality that harkens back to the Brosnan-era Bond pictures. It’s also relatively talky for anfilm, heavy on pre-heist exposition and vague, menacing repartee. Which is not to say that McQuarrie’s latest is in any way a slack, action-deficient experience. Like all the director’s contributions to the series,possesses a fabulous sense of momentum.