Last night, I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. As of this writing, MI4 is at an improbable 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. MI3 finished at 70%, MI2 reached only 57%, and the original scored 61%. Is MI4 the best? Is the series actually getting better or are critics just fickle? The only way to be sure is an analytic, categorical breakdown. 

My disclaimer: I haven’t pre-calculated the winning movie. I am figuring out the scores as I go and will sum up at the end.

Threat Level

• MI - A stolen NOC list. All the IMF secret agents are at risk. Aren’t they always? (+1.0)
• MI2 - A virus that kills within 48 hours. Scary, but a cure has also been produced. (+2.0)
• MI3 - The rabbit’s foot. We never learn what this is, but Simon Pegg has some spooky words about it. (+3.0)
• MI4 - Thermonuclear war between the US and Russia. The highest stakes, but didn’t we see this already in about every Jack Ryan movie? (+4.0)

Villain

• MI - We don’t even know who the main villain is until the final act. Then we find out it’s old man Jon Voight. It’s a nice double-cross, though. (+3.0)
• MI2 - Dougray Scott plays a snot-nosed rogue IMF agent who wants … stock futures? (+1.0)
• MI3 - Phillip Seymour Hoffman kills it as the dastardly Owen Davian, proving a villain doesn’t need to be physically threatening to be scary. (+4.0)
• MI4 - We barely meet the villain until the latter half of the movie and I don’t think he had more than 3 minutes of dialogue. (+2.0)

Supporting Villains

• MI - Vanessa Redgrave plays the devilish super-cougar Max and Jean Reno plays his double agent dark and mysterious. (+4.0)
• MI2 - Some guy named Hugh Stamp. His jaw gets broken later in the film. (+1.0)
• MI3 - Billy Crudup carries on the rogue IMF agent tradition… but not very menacing once he is revealed. (+2.0)
• MI4 - A very Bond-esque villainess who works for diamonds. Good in the scenes she is in, but she makes an early exit (+3.0)

IMF Team

• MI - There’s a lot of overlap between the IMF team and the villains. Emilio Estevez sustains a memorable death and we’re introduced to Ving Rhames’ Luther. (+3.0)
• MI2 - Ethan Hunt is supported by Luther and a 90 pound supermodel. He wasn’t even disavowed in this movie… where the hell is the backup? (+1.0)
• MI3 - Simon Pegg is introduced to the series, Keri Russell’s head explodes, and Luther continues his reliable course as Ethan Hunt’s wingman. (+2.0)
• MI4 - A pretty fresh team consisting of Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner. Josh Holloway takes the early mincemeat role. Unlike the previous three, the team pretty much backs up Ethan the entire movie. Ethan must be touched by this as well, because he gives a corny speech about teamwork at the end. (+4.0)

Iconic Scene

• MI - Ethan hangs upside down above a pressure sensitive floor while breaking into the CIA HQ. (+4.0)
• MI2 - Motorcycle joust. (+2.0)
• MI3 - A tough one. There are a lot of great scenes but I don’t think any are iconic. (+1.0)
• MI4 - Ethan Hunt climbs the world’s tallest building with malfunctioning magnetic gloves. (+3.0)

Opening Sequence

• MI - A dark opening sequence involving fooling a mark into thinking he killed a hooker. (+2.0)
• MI2 - I don’t remember if there was an intro to the virus or if it was just Ethan Hunt climbing a cliff. (+1.0)
• MI3 - A flashforward to the climax of the movie! Immediately puts you on the edge of your seat. (+4.0)
• MI4 - The team incites a prison riot to break Ethan Hunt out of a Russian penitentiary.  (+3.0)

Final Battle

• MI - Ethan battles a helicopter while clinging to a train. (+3.0)
• MI2 - Motorcycle joust, visceral fist fight, and John Woo doves. (+2.0)
• MI3 - Fist fight with Phillip Seymour Hoffman in a shabby Shanghai doctor’s office while a charge is on the verge of explosion in Ethan’s head. (+1.0)
• MI4 - Hand to hand combat through an automatic parking garage in Mumbai. (+4.0)

Ethan Hunt: Iron Man

• MI - Ethan blows up a helicopter and is blasted from the exploding chopper to the front of a speeding train. (+2.0)
• MI2 - Ethan has a head-on collision with his enemy while jumping off a motorcycle. (+1.0)
• MI3 - Ethan electrocutes himself to short out an explosive device in his brain. (+4.0)
• MI4 - Ethan drives a BMW off a ledge and drops 100 feet head-on into the ground. Good thing it had an airbag. (+3.0)

Results

1. 26 Points - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
2. 22 Points - Mission Impossible
3. 21 Points - Mission Impossible 3
4. 11 Points - Mission Impossible 2