History YMMV / MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol

%%ZCE* SignatureScene: Ethan climbing the Burj Khalifa. Why is it famous?

** "Tensions between the United States and Russia haven't been this high since the Cuban Missile Crisis." Look back at this line in Spring 2022, when Russian troops have invaded Ukraine and America is supplying the defenders... [[note]] Also technically incorrect - the most tense it ever got was actually the early Reagan era, around the time of the "Evil Empire" speech, culminating in an incident on September 26, 1983, when [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident the Soviet air defense HQ received alerts detecting missile launches from US air bases]]. Only General Stanislav Petrov's gut instinct held off a retaliatiory launch, which would have without a doubt triggered World War III. [[/note]]

** "Tensions between the United States and Russia haven't been this high since the Cuban Missile Crisis." Look back at this line in Spring 2022, when Russian troops have invaded Ukraine and America is supplying the defenders...

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychoForHire Sabine Moreau]] is a cruel [[ProfessionalKiller contract killer]] who [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduces herself]] by shooting Agent Hathaway to swipe his briefcase, leaving him on the cusp of death so he'll die in his lover's arms. The contents of the briefcase are nuclear launch codes that Moreau plans to sell to [[WellIntentionedExtremist Kurt "Cobalt" Hendricks]], so he can use them to kickstart a nuclear holocaust. When she meets who she believes to be Cobalt, Moreau tries to have his henchman executed to prove she's serious about the deal. Moreau doesn't care about Cobalt's cause or the billions who will die from the nuclear codes, [[OnlyInItForTheMoney simply wanting diamonds for her services]].

* SignatureScene: Ethan climbing the Burj Khalifa.

* EvenBetterSequel: This was easily the best-reviewed film of the series, with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes (though ''Rogue Nation'' later matched it and ''Fallout'' topped it). WebVideo/CinemaWins even sums up his review with, "So apparently, no one told Creator/TomCruise or Creator/BradBird or Creator/JJAbrams that this was [[LongRunner a 4th movie in a franchise]] and it's supposed to suck."

* HarsherInHindsight: The trailer for the film [[spoiler: shows the bombing of the Kremlin, a major symbol of the Russian government]]. The trailer was played on the same day as the terrorist attacks in Oslo, Norway.

** WordOfGod says William Brandt was put in the movie so that he could become the series' new protagonist if Creator/TomCruise ever left. In the end, Cruise stayed as the lead...but around the same time, Creator/JeremyRenner ''did'' end up becoming Film/TheBourneSeries' new protagonist after Creator/MattDamon dropped out of ''Film/TheBourneLegacy''.

** When Ethan first meets Jane, she introduces herself as "{{Series/Agent Carter}}." Even funner as Agent Carter's actress, Creator/HayleyAtwell would later sign up for Mission Impossible 7+8.
** Creator/LeaSeydoux, who plays a cold ProfessionalKiller with a personality not too different from a James Bond villain in this film, ends up playing Bond's love interest in Film/Spectre and Film/NoTimeToDie.

** Creator/LeaSeydoux, who plays a cold ProfessionalKiller with a personality not too different from a James Bond villain in this film, ends up playing a Bond girl in [[Film/Spectre]] and [[Film/NoTimeToDie]]

** When Ethan first meets Jane, she introduces herself as "{{Series/Agent Carter}}."
** Creator/LeaSeydoux, who plays a cold ProfessionalKiller with a personality not too different from a James Bond villain in this film, ends up playing a Bond Girl in the [[Film/{{Spectre}} latest Bond film.]]

** WordOfGod says William Brandt was put in the movie so that he could become the series' new protagonist if Creator/TomCruise ever left. In the end, Cruise stayed on for the fourth movie...but around the same time, Creator/JeremyRenner ''did'' end up becoming Film/TheBourneSeries' new protagonist after Creator/MattDamon dropped out of ''Film/TheBourneLegacy''.

* MagnificentBastard: The ingenious [[BigBad Kurt Hendricks]] is a former specialist in nuclear endgame theory, who grew weary of treating the lives of millions like a game, and came to the conclusion that [[TheFatalist nuclear war is an inevitability, no matter what efforts he takes]]. Introduced hijacking the IMF's operation to break into the Kremlin, Hendricks frames the agency for bombing the landmark, effortlessly stirring tensions between the U.S. and Russia to levels not seen since the Cold War. Abducting the family of a nuclear physicist, Hendricks forces the man to verify nuclear launch codes, killing him afterwards because he knows too much, though he does allow the man's family to live. Launching a missile towards San Francisco in hopes of inciting nuclear armageddon, causing any survivors in the aftermath to declare a worldwide armistice, Hendricks manages to hold his own against Ethan Hunt in a fight for the command briefcase, and, knowing when he's beat, [[ThanatosGambit simply leaps to his death to ensure his plan succeeds]], literally coming within a second of accomplishing his goals. Despite his omnicidal visions and sheer ruthlessness, Hendricks [[WellIntentionedExtremist genuinely believes]] that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, and manages to play the IMF and the world's governments for fools all the while.