Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

$694.7 million worldwide, and I could not tell you one thing the villain wants. Hendricks is after a nuclear war for reasons the movie explains once, fast, like it’s embarrassed. Doesn’t matter, because nobody bought a ticket for him. Brad Bird stages this thing like a cartoon with real gravity: every gadget breaks at the worst possible second, and that running gag is also where all the tension comes from. Then Tom Cruise climbs the outside of the tallest building in Dubai wearing sticky gloves that only sort of work, and I watched most of it through my fingers. Simon Pegg’s Benji finally gets field work and steals every scene he panics in. Jeremy Renner mostly frowns at people. The sandstorm chase is a blast. An 8.4 because this is where the series stopped being a Tom Cruise solo act and turned into a team sport. $78 says your palms sweat through the whole building climb even though you’re sitting on a couch.

What works: The Dubai tower climb, Benji getting real field time, and gadgets that fail at the worst moment for laughs and tension at once.

What doesn’t: The villain is a blank with a nuclear grudge, and the movie never gives him one reason to be interesting.

Who it’s for: People who watch heist movies for the moment the plan falls apart and the team has to make it up on the spot.