Review of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) by Anzaan A — 23 Jul 2018

This was a fun movie to watch; much better than I anticipated. Usually sequels have totally run their course by the fourth time, but not so here. In fact, this might even be the best of the Mission Impossible films.

It has a good mixture of interesting action scenes, suspense, drama, humor, great scenery of Venice, Italy, and fine acting. Nothing is overdone to the point of being too much and, as most MI films go, it has the normal espionage-type intrigue to figure out.

It's just plain entertaining. Kudos to all: the director, the actors and the special-effects and cameraman. A superb job done all around."Mission Accomplished"...

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the forth film in the franchise (though first not to acknowledge its place in the title) and sees Tom Cruise reprising the leading role of the globe-trotting super spy Ethan Hunt. Throughout the series Hunt has evolved from team player to lone wolf and now in Ghost Protocol he must become a true leader of a team that, for the first time, he didn't choose.

The film blasts off into overdrive from the minute the gates open and rarely lets up, it's one hell of a ride and there's enough action and gadgets here to please any fan of the spy film genre. The plot is fairly straightforward; the bad guy obtains the key to the ultimate weapon and plans to destroy the world with it. Hunt and his team, working without the support of the IMF, must stop him at all costs. It has enough twists and turns to keep you engaged but it never gets so complicated that you risk getting lost while you're immersed in the mind- blowing stunt sequences. One thing fans of the series will probably notice this time around is that Hunt is more 'human' when it comes to the action than he has been in most of the previous outings. Not everything goes to plan and if he gets hit or falls down it hurts. Sure he's still a super spy and can do things most mortal men would never try in a million years but the added vulnerability and consequences of those actions gone wrong lifts the film to a new level and is one of the reasons it kept me on board all the way to the end.

If there is anything about this film that let me down a little it was the absence of a true 'super villain' like we had in MI3. Yes there's a villain and yes he's dangerous but there is something missing. I guess I could put it this way - there is no, Joker to Hunt's Batman. In MI3 things get very personal between Hunt and Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and that jacked up the menace and intensity of the conflict to a level you'd expect to see in the ultimate villain but in M:I-GP that level of personal rivalry between protagonist and antagonist was a bit lacking. It's not that Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) didn't deliver a good performance in the few scenes where he interacts with Cruise, it's just that there are so few of these moments that he is, in many ways, almost like another one of his own henchmen and I mistook him for other characters on a few occasions.

Personally I felt a greater presence and sense of danger from the female assassin, Sabine Moreau (Lea Seydoux - Robin Hood), a beautiful yet malicious woman with a cold heartless gaze, completely devoid of compassion. In my opinion she'd have made a much better leading villain, especially as her actions do personally effect one of the team, but despite this little hiccup there is certainly more than enough obstacles to keep Hunt and his team busy and the audience well and truly entertained so this is really just nit-picking on my part.

After the relative disappointment of the second Mission: Impossible film, first time feature director J.J. Abrams (of TV's ALIAS and Lost fame) injected some much needed heart and soul into the third installment, expertly balancing a romantic subplot with the high-octane action sequences all fans demand of such a film. Although Abrams was not going to direct the fourth film it was reassuring to see that he was still involved as a producer so I had relatively high hopes that Ghost Protocol would live up to MI3 and I wasn't disappointed.

Like MI3 before it Ghost Protocol's director's chair is filled with another first timer of sorts and like the previous chapter that 'gamble' has paid off. Although Brad Bird is not a first time feature helmer this is his first foray into the world of live action so he might not seem to be the most obvious choice but there was never any doubt from either Abrams or Cruise about his talent and potential to deliver a great film. Bird's impressive previous credits include The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille (the last two having won Academy Awards for best Animated Feature Film). Like Abrams, Bird has also had great success on the small screen as an executive consultant on the Simpsons and I've been a fan of his work since chancing upon Family Dog (from Spielberg's 'Amazing Stories' series) in the early 90's.

Simon Pegg (Paul) reprises his role as Benji Dunn from MI3, the computer whiz behind all the action. Dunn has now graduated from a 'behind the desk cameo' to a fully qualified field officer and as a result gets a much beefier role in this mission becoming one of Hunt's rogue team. Pegg's natural comedic timing and likable charm adds a much-needed element of lightheartedness to the franchise that could have easily backfired had this role been miscast.

Rounding out the new team are IMF agents Jane Carter (Paula Patton - Deja Vu) and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner -The Hurt Locker), and both actors deliver solid performances. Carter is as sexy as she is deadly and Patton slips between these two persona's with ease while Brandt hides a secret past allowing Renner to show a vulnerability we're not used to seeing in the roles he normally plays.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol delivers exactly the type of entertainment action fans crave and as a result it is perfect popcorn movie. If you don't enjoy this ride then entertaining you is a mission: impossibleThe long wait is finally over as Tom Cruise finally returns to the celluloid to reprise his epic role of the enigmatic IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The brilliance of Mission: Impossible III was marred by the infamous sacking of Tom Cruise by Paramount's owner and movie mogul Sumner Redstone, who blamed Cruise's bizarre sofa-hopping TV antics, and intransigent support of Scientology for movie's relatively poor show at the box office that resulted in losses of up to £75million in revenue. The sordid incident ensured that the wait for the next installment of the franchise had to be a long one. The half a decade lull that ensued saw Cruise's career sunk to a new nadir with movies like Lions for Lambs (2007), Valkyrie (2008), and Knight and Day (2010) failing to impress at the box office, while his contemporaries and coevals continued to tumble records at the box office, attaining new heights of fame and stardom. It is indeed ironic that Cruise's most impressive show in this interim has been his well-disguised cameo in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder (2008) in which he plays a the foul-mouthed, hot-headed, half-bald studio executive. But, every coin has the other part that completes the picture. While the things have been going a bit rough on the professional front, Cruise's personal life has finally been witnessing a much needed sense of calmness and stability. Such stability on the personal front can often lift a person's morale providing him with a sense of rejuvenation that can help him fare well in all the facets of life. Tom Cruise's rejuvenated self is pretty much apparent in the latest installment of the MI franchise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

Ghost Protocol takes the viewer on a roller coaster of a ride from Moscow to Dubai, all the way to Mumbai, never allowing a breathing space, keeping him on the edge of the seat throughout. MI - GP is indeed the quintessential action extravaganza that the ardent lovers of the genre perpetually anticipate to devour upon in order to satiate their ever growing hunger for unremitting action and adventure. Ethan Hunt is back in all his glory with some newly added dimensions to his old daredevilry that had established him as the greatest contemporary to Ian Fleming's larger than life human incarnate. As seen with Bond in Casino Royale, the key men behind the MI franchise have made conscious efforts to make the caricature of Hunt more vulnerable to danger and crises, and hence more human. MI - GP delivers everything that an action-movie lover craves for: suspense, intrigue, passion, daredevilry, razzmatazz, and much more. The adrenaline filled action is well complemented by the dazzle of the geeky gadgets on display and it is this synergy that makes MI - GP an incredibly sublime experience. The tremendous reputation that the high octane franchise carries meant the newly appointed director Brad Bird-mostly renowned for his animation flicks The Incredibles and Ratatouille-had his work cut out for him. Brad Bird has indeed been up to the task and has lived well to the expectations of Cruise and the entire production team led by J.J. Adams, who directed the third movie of the series back in 2006. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is packed with a plethora of action sequences that includes a shootout in Budapest, an escape sequence from a Moscow Jail, a sandstorm chase in Dubai, and a classic brawl in an automated parking garage in Mumbai. However, the sequence that stands out is the one in which Tom Cruise climbs the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa by clinging to it from the outside using suction gloves, giving the Spiderman a run for his money.

After the splendidly executed siege of the Vatican in the third installment, Ethan and his IMF team are on the lookout for some classified information pertaining to a Russian extremist Kurt Hendricks, which takes their quest to Kremlin. The covert mission goes awry as their plan is sabotaged by the personal intervention of Hendricks, which turns the tables on Cruise and his team rendering them sequestered and helpless. The questionable events that unfold at Kremlin, forces the US President to invoke the Ghost Protocol leading to the disavowal of IMF. Ethan and his team, which includes the computer geek Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), agents Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), despite their severe handicap are the only hope left at preventing the diabolical duo of Hendricks and his stalwart Wistrom from fulfilling their demonic mission of global destruction through a nuclear war. Simon Pegg as Benji is spot on with his persiflage, and his nonchalance adds a much needed levity to the otherwise tense plot. Paula Patton as Jane Carter is a treat to the sore eyes: her imperial gait, upright posture, predatory agility, dusky complexion, steamy mystique, athletic built, curvaceous figure, and apparent haughtiness make her an object of envy for males and females alike. Her ethereal presence undoubtedly leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. The introduction of Jeremy Renner as William Brandt adds another layer of intrigue to the plot of MI - GP. Brandt's enigmatic part allows Renner to depict a wide array of emotions that his previous roles couldn't offer. The over-hyped inclusion of veteran Indian actor Anil Kapoor in the MI - GP cast is undoubtedly movie's greatest disappointment, especially from the perspective of Indian cineastes, as the actor fails to make an impression during his ephemeral performance.

Overall, MI - GP has managed to raise the bar for the Action genre. Indian movie-makers, who have recently started to delve into the genre, can look to take a note or two out of MI - GP in order to iron out the usual glitches. Despite the occasional lack of coherence in the plot, MI - GP works quite well at almost all the levels and promises to be a great entertainment.Summer is usually the time for big loud action-packed blockbusters like this, but let us tell you right at the start that none of the bombast we've seen this summer compares to what lies in store for you in the fourth big-screen adaptation of the 1970s television series. This is hands-down the best action film this year, boasting some of the most exhilarating action ever captured in a long while. It also restores Tom Cruise's marquee value as an action star, and we dare attest that any naysayer to Cruise's ability to resurrect the franchise he almost drowned will be silenced once they see what he does on screen.

Indeed, the last 'Mission: Impossible" from 'Alias' and 'Lost' creator J.J. Abrams was then easily the best of the series- though all that positive word about it couldn't quite triumph the bad press surrounding its star and producer Cruise's erratic behaviour. So 'MI3' ended up hitting a nadir for the franchise at the box-office, and Cruise's star wattage has never since fully rebounded. Trying to restore its lustre wasn't a mission impossible, but it was going to be an uphill task as well- if not only for the fact that it had to better J.J. Abrams' solid work.

That gamble has however paid off with an unlikely bet- choosing animation hero Brad Bird from 'The Iron Giant' and 'Ratatouille' to make his first live-action film. Bird is also of course the director of Pixar's 'The Incredibles' and there is certainly the same pulsating energy running through every frame of 'MI4'. From the very beginning, Bird places his definitive stamp on the series with a classy opening that sees IMF operative Ethan Hunt breaking out of a Russian prison. That sequence, which combines Dean Martin's 'Ain't That A Kick in the Head' with Steve McQueen's 'The Great Escape', is carefully executed and fluidly filmed- and both are signature attributes of Bird's style throughout the movie.

No 'Mission Impossible' film would be complete without the exotic locales, fancy gadgets and big explosions- but there is a certain finesse by which Bird assembles all these elements together into one package. So even as the setting moves from Russia to Dubai to Mumbai, even as the gadgets grow increasingly fanciful (one especially nifty device is a nifty retina-based mirror-like screen) and even as the explosions get more colossal (how about blowing up the Kremlin?), Bird never lets the adventure get frenetic, alternating confidently between quiet tension and full-blown action to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Riveted is what you'll be as Hunt and his team infiltrates the Kremlin to steal some classified intel about the Russian extremist Kurt Hendricks (Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist from 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'), then hoodwinks two sets of bad guys just one floor apart atop the Burj Khalifa, and then races against time literally in the crowded streets of Mumbai to stop Hendricks from precipitating an all-out nuclear war between the United States and Russia. Each elaborate setpiece is in itself a spectacle, and watching them unfold one after another quite simply takes your breath away.

But the most awe-inspiring- and worthy of singular mention- setpiece is Cruise's vertiginous climb up the glass exterior of the Burj Khalifa using suction gloves. It is Cruise himself way up on the 130th floor, and the authenticity of it shows in every second of Robert Elswit's breathtaking cinematography that is enough reason alone to catch this in IMAX. It is even more heart-stopping than you can imagine, not least when Cruise is left dangling with just one glove after the other malfunctions. Nothing else quite comes close to the sheer dizzying excitement of this sequence- not even the intensely gripping race- against-time climax with a good-old fistfight between Hunt and Hendricks in an automated parking garage.

Yes, Cruise isn't one to rest on his laurels, and at the age of 49, the extent to which he commits to perform the stunts in this movie by himself is simply amazing. When he is not attempting some death.