Most people don't appreciate how rare it is to have a totally satisfying dumb action flick come out. Most of the time we let a lot of things slide with our action movies, and we end up letting sub-par action replace quality action. It's been a sub-par year for big, dumb action with a plethora of disapointments like Sucker Punch and Conan coming our way, so I'm happy to say that Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is a fantastic action topper to generally poor action year.
Tom Cruise returns once again as Ethan Hunt, the super spy from the elite spy organization IMF. Those of you who watched the show will remember that the IMF handles particularly tricky cases that need lots of high-tech spy gadgets and plenty of clever thinking. The films have kind of ditched the clever thinking part and complex spy plots for all out action, but in the case of Ghost Protocol that's perfectly fine. Not to say that the film doesn't have an involving enough story. This time around Hunt is sprung from jail by fellow IMF members Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton) who inform him that he's needed to help recover some stolen Russian nuclear codes.
This in turn leads to the team being framed for bombing the Kremlin and the entire IMF being disbanded. The only person on Hunt's side is the Secretary of State, who unfortunately dies, but leaves behind his aid, Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Brandt is a bit more than just an aid however and the three remaining members of IMF and he go on a mission to clear their name and save the world from a nuclear holocaust.
The plot may seem like a relick of the Cold War, but Ghost Protocol hits all the right action points. The team whizzes from one exotic location to another while using crazy high-tech gadgets in some really stupendously done action sequences. Each one is creative and fun to watch from the tense sequence where Hunt has to scale the tallest building in the world to the brilliantly done and brutal final battel in a moving car garage. What really sets the action apart, however, is a commitment to keeping stunts real. While there's plenty of digital effects throughout the film, the filmmakers clearly had a goal of doing things the old fashioned way and it makes every action sequence better. This is especially true for the afformentioned building sequence, which was actually filmed on the world's tallest building with a real person climbing it.
It's tought to come down on dumb action flicks for not being good enough most of the time, but when a truly quality one like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol comes along it makes you realize how few and far between they are. While it definitely has its flaws (a better villain would have been appreciated), it delivers on its action in every way possible.
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