8 Reasons Mission Impossible Is Better Than James Bond
5. Mission Impossible Has Better Pacing
Depending on how you look at it, Casino Royale either takes its sweet time or just has really poor pacing. It opens with a brutal prologue that sees Bond get the two kills required for double-O status. Then it settles in for its title sequence, followed by a drawn out seven-minute chase in Madagascar. Then Bond goes to the Bahamas. Then Bond kills a guy at Bodyworlds in Miami and spends ten minutes chasing a guy through an airport. It takes the movie an entire hour for Vesper Lynd to make her entrance and for the actual story to begin. After which story concludes at the two-hour mark, you can watch another 20 minutes for an admittedly heartbreaking betrayal and admittedly awesome shootout in a sinking house. But by the time its over, you very much feel the fact that this is the longest Bond film to date. Quantum of Solace is 106 minutes of sustained anticlimax. Skyfall is long, but its great. (Skyfall doesnt give me much ammunition.) Is Mission:Impossible also guilty of confusing globetrotting plots? Certainly. But none of the M:I films overstay their welcome. M:I 3 is a very tight story about a guy who doesnt know whether he can be an impossible missioner and also have a normal married life. Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation are both a bit longer, but their runtimes are well broken up between spectacular action, exquisite build-up to said spectacular action, and welcome breathers with the team.
