Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol/2011
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner
The Film: Say what you will about Brad Bird, the guy knows how to throw a punch. The latest entry in the Mission Impossible franchise packs some of the best action and action set-pieces of the series.
Put Tom Cruise in the Burj Khalifa tower with some grip-gloves, (see film for clarification) a handgun, and four or five deadly assassins to play with - not to mention a Katrina-scale sandstorm bearing down on the lot - and watch in wonder as a ballet of blood, dust, and vehicular mayhem ensues.
If there's a working actor with a better physical presence than Mr. Cruise, (wait for it Statham fans) bearing this level of acting chops, he's working wonders in another universe. If this Doppelganger bows his head to the alien lords of Scientology - I wouldn't be surprised. I'm sure the church Kool-Aid is laced with taurine and speed no matter what planet you drink it on.
Misson Impossible fans will be happy to note that although this movie dumps most of the characters (poor Ving Rames...) and plot threads from JJ Abrams film - it doesn't completely forget about them.
The film opens with a prison break from a Russian gulag where Ethan Hunt's been doing time for crimes we don't fully get all the details of until Ghost Protocol's conclusion. Rest assured, the events of MI:3 tie in nicely with Ethan's current convict status. Once free Ethan's team are framed for a terrorist attack on the Kremlin (smart break-in scene that one) and are left on their own to try and stop the real terrorists behind the offensive.
Ghost Protocol's a gritty film. Whatever happened between this movie and the last one has changed the climate of the franchise - Ethan and Co. mean some serious business this time around. MI:4's a bit skimpy on laughs - chalk that up to Ving Rhames being exorcised from the agent roster.
The jury's still out on Jeremy Renner taking a place at the IMF table. Renner's a terrific actor, he just seemed a bit uncomfortable in the role of action super-star. Same goes for Simon Pegg. If Brad Bird didn't have Paula Patton running most of the butt-kicking on this team, the role of pain delegator in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol might have landed squarely on Tom Cruise's shoulders... again.
Patton puts some much-needed heat in this kitchen.
As far as the new villain's concerned? Michael Niqvist (Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) comes off a bit motiveless and empty. Phil Hoffman did terrific work as the heavy in the third film, (still may favorite of the franchise) Niqvist's Cobalt pales by any comparison. Brad Bird dresses Cobalt appropriately, he gives him weapons, men, a motive, (he means to END THE VORLD!) he even gives him some punch-time with Ethan Hunt. But Cobalt's a paper tiger. A man with no name. A villain without a mustache to twirl. If it were at all possible to order out for a team of killers, a nuclear weapon, and a satellite to steer it by - in exchange for a debit card number - I'm betting Cobalt would have bunkered down in his apartment and eradicated the human race by that means.
If Ghost Protocol is anything it's heavy on action, dangerously light on the reasons behind it.
The Verdict: Brad Bird does a great job helming his first mega-monster action movie. Tom Cruise and cast are up to the task of ripping apart terrorists, profiteers, and anyone in between them and the end of civilization. The settings and set-pieces are some of the best in the series. For a film running at two-and-a-half hours it feels much tighter than that. In that respect Ghost Protocol does it's own version of the Tom Cruise run.
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