Source: Movieweb
It’s a rebirth for the series. In the same way with what they’ve done with The Amazing Spider-Man. I feel like it’s a reinvigoration of this particular story. It was a series when it was on TV, so it’s a story that can have so many iterations. There are so many adventures to get into with this team of impossible mission fighters. When a film goes into number four you’re like, ‘Isn’t this just like flogging a dead horse now?’ But what they’ve done is they’ve brought in a director who’s never done live action before but who’s had a 100 percent hit rate for his previous movies: Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and The Iron Giant are all just five star films. Brad Bird has just brought that sensibility to this film. And the fact that’s it’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, it’s not Mission: Impossible 4.
I have to agree with the man that Brad Bird is an admirable choice for a person to sit in the directors chair, as the guy has a string of animated hits under his belt that have actually aged quite well and remain some of my favorite cartoon classics.
What I have a hard time understanding is how this is not a sequel as his explanation did nothing to dispel any assumption of such, especially when he’s a returning character that was introduced in the last film. I understand that there’s more stories to be told in the world of Mission Impossible but this type of talk does nothing to explain to viewers what it is we should expect, continuity wise, other than to sit in the theater seat with an open mind.