Empire's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movie Review

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
If you build it, Cruise will climb it

Plot
After an incursion into the Kremlin goes explosively awry, secret spy force IMF is shut down and its agents disavowed. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his small band of allies have mere days to prevent wily terrorist Hendricks (Nyqvist) from unleashing nuclear winter on America’s West Coast.

Review

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No need to wait until summer for The Amazing Spider-Man. The main attraction in Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Brad Bird’s frisky take on Paramount’s spy property, is a dizzyingly brilliant action sequence set high above Dubai, in and around the 130th floor of the Burj Khalifa. It was inevitable, given Tom Cruise’s career-long quest to clamber up increasingly vertiginous objects, that eventually he’d take on the world’s tallest building. But unlike the rock-climbing bit in M:I-2, this isn’t just an excuse to flaunt his triceps. As our hero miraculously ascends the sheer glass wall, staking his life on a pair of futuristic magnet-gloves powered by shonky batteries, Bird slows things down and lets us feel the height. Then he lets rip, throwing in hazard after hazard, flinging his star about like a rag doll and generally whipping up tension like a sandstorm (the scene has one of those, too). It’s pure popcorn cinema — thrilling, playful, seemingly CGI-free — and by far the movie’s standout.

That’s not to say the rest is a big letdown. After a brisk opening in a Russian prison, where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is found bouncing a rock off his cell wall like a buffer Cooler King, there’s hardly a pause for breath before he’s marching into the Kremlin, armed only with a Des Lynam moustache and reversible jacket. This set-piece establishes the tone. The previous entry in the franchise, J. J. Abrams’ M:I-3, was the intense one, where Hunt was forced to confront his past and Philip Seymour Hoffman sweated a lot. It grossed less than its predecessors, so for the fourquel Cruise has gone for a fizzier, sillier vibe, recruiting Pixar golden boy Bird for his first foray into live action. There are shades of The Incredibles to be found in the bonkers technology (contact lenses that double as cameras; iPads that sprout holograms) and peppy, clearly storyboarded-to-an-inch-of-its-life action. The pace, for the most part, is relentless: there’s no romance — despite a smidgen of token light flirting between Ethan and new team member Jane (Paula Patton) — and minimal exposition.

Which is just as well, as this fourth instalment’s biggest weakness is its plot. No doubt it’s devilishly hard these days to think up a fresh adversary for a team of world-savers, but the Big Bad here is as stale as they come: a crazed terrorist (Michael Nyqvist) with a jones for triggering nuclear annihilation. It’s unclear exactly what he hopes to achieve, but as the film piles on the usual tropes (a briefcase full of codes, a submarine, a satellite), it all starts to feel one Jonathan Pryce away from becoming a Brosnan Bond. There’s sag, too, in the final stretch, which throws in Slumdog Millionaire’s Anil Kapoor as a horndog millionaire and a mêlée in a bizarre sci-fi car park.

Even with these flaws, Ghost Protocol (a cooler title than Skyfall?) remains fun from start to end. This is largely due to an increased focus on team play, with Cruise, who’s now finally starting to look his age, especially on an IMAX screen, yielding a few of the action beats to co-star Jeremy Renner and even letting Simon Pegg have a gun. Pegg, who’s been promoted to second lead following his few techy scenes in M:I-3, has effectively become Danny Butterman to Cruise’s Nicholas Angel, tagging along for the dangerous stuff while sporting a goofy grin. His Benji isn’t quite the comedy powerhouse that the film thinks he is, but that’s more a fault of the script, which is often not quite sharp or funny enough. Still, if Bird’s aims were to revitalise the franchise and prove he can orchestrate real-world balletics as expertly as the pixelated kind, it’s mission accomplished on both counts.

Verdict

Reviewed by Nick de Semlyen

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Average user rating for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
I've always said that The Incredibles is the animated Mission Impossible. Filled with breathtaking action, Ghost Protocol pushes the viewers through it basic plot with such grace that it's almost too cool for Tom Cruise. ... More


Posted by norgizfox at 03:55, 20 February 2013 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
L: MonsterCat Recently caught up with this on blu-ray, and I enjoyed it all the way through. This a textbook example of how to do populist blockbuster entertainment, and I can't wait what to see what else Brad Bird comes up with in the live action movie-making realm. Fun stuff, and the action sequences were genuinely tense, well staged and spectacular. And I love the chemistry that Cruise had with his new team members. I'm hoping that Paramount and Bad Robot will keep Jeremy Renne... More


Posted by Cool Breeze at 22:46, 07 May 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Recently caught up with this on blu-ray, and I enjoyed it all the way through. This a textbook example of how to do populist blockbuster entertainment, and I can't wait what to see what else Brad Bird comes up with in the live action movie-making realm. Fun stuff, and the action sequences were genuinely tense, well staged and spectacular. And I love the chemistry that Cruise had with his new team members. I'm hoping that Paramount and Bad Robot will keep Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and the l... More

Posted by MonsterCat at 21:58, 07 May 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission Impossible
SPOILERS Missed this in the cinema and just finally got round to watching it on DVD and it was crap. Utter crap. The story was bland and had been done a hundred times before only better. Not only that it was littered with loads of pointles plot threads that went nowhere in the end. The identity of Renner's character is set up as this big mystery, then its revealed that he was a field agent who failed to protect Crusie's wife who didn;t leave him but was actually murdered and he was in jail... More

Posted by Vadersville at 11:10, 04 May 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
The next MI should star Pegg in the lead role, he was the only one thing that drew a positive for me. ... More


Posted by Filmlounger at 15:45, 19 April 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
I had some good fun with this. It wasn't quite what it could have been, but all in all it was enjoyable and had some memorable moments. My complaints: * The atmosphere was a little flat. Individual sequences worked well, but at times the story just seemed to kind of amble along without the tension you might expect given the end of the world scenario. * Worst bad guy yet for the series. A great i]for a villain, but in practice he had no verve, and never felt like much of a thre... More

Posted by King of Kafiristan at 22:52, 18 April 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Well well Mr Cruise you certainly are looking your years these days, no matter how much makeup you trowel on yourself you can't hide it Sir. Yep despite the clear amounts of money he spends to try and keep himself looking about 35, Mr Cruise is really starting to look out of place in these types of films. His dyed over straightened hair changes shape in almost every scene and his skin complexion is looking shaky with many wrinkles breaking through, he wou... More

Posted by Phubbs at 20:33, 03 April 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Again i dont agree with empire!
A bit too long for me (as the actress said to the bishop) with some unnecessary subplots but still god fun. More Ving Rhames next time!! ... More

Posted by musht at 01:10, 21 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Again i dont agree with empire!
Decent if formulaic light hearted action fare, no better or worse than its predecessors (except MI:2 which was crap). The IMAX sequences are the films strengths with the tower climbing scene and the Kremlin explosion being the highlight. Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise were enjoyable but I thought Jeremy Renner was wasted as a side character. The film is let down by clunky dialogue and some really corny "acting". Overall a fun film but only really worth it in IMAX and will probably suffer on dvd/bd. ... More


Posted by Spaldron at 12:31, 20 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Again i dont agree with empire!
Hey Muzzy, long time no see!!! ... More

Posted by jonson at 07:45, 18 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Again i dont agree with empire!
Watched it the other and thought it was better than I'd expected. 4/5 ... More


Posted by m_er at 17:42, 17 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Enjoyable but not as good as MI3
BTW was The Syndicate mentioned at the end? Just looked up Wikipedia and they were a Mafia like organisation in the original series. So perhaps that's where MI: 5 will be headed? Though give me a banana republic anyday! ... More

Posted by Private Hudson at 19:45, 06 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Great little action flick. Problems (SPOILERS obvs)- rubbish chase in a sand storm. Least cinematic scene of the year?or=#ffffff]Utterly void main villian. No character whatsoever.or=#ffffff]Axing the interesting antagonist way too early.or=#ffffff]Dull magnetic vest sequences. ... More

Posted by Macavity at 10:21, 03 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
L: bozo Wow - so many people insist on the 4 stars and it is a solid effort with spectacular action scenes and stunts, but yesterday I rewatched III and have to say the previous mission had more depth, emotional punch and drama, and, of course, the best villain in the series so far. 3 and a half? 'd agree with this. A solid 3.5 stars for me...failed to top M:I 3 in terms of all-round entertainment and consistency. I'd be tempted to add a half star on for the IMAX experience... More


Posted by Marky_Mark at 10:00, 03 January 2012 \| Report This Post



RE: mission impossible
Good but not great. Plot seemed a bit strung together and the film feels a good 25mins too long. But there are fantastic sequences, dubai standout and all the cast are pretty solid although I wasn't overly impressed with Renner in this. ... More

Posted by Dirk Miggler at 10:49, 30 December 2011 \| Report This Post



RE: mission impossible
Is Ving Rhames totally absent in this one? All the promotional stuff suggests so... ... More

Posted by film man aidy at 21:25, 29 December 2011 \| Report This Post



RE: RE:
I`m agree with the rating, it`s three stars. Plot is average, characters aren`t enough sophisticated. ... More

Posted by szoni at 11:41, 27 December 2011 \| Report This Post

Mission: Impossible - Ghost ProtocolIf you build it, Cruise will climb it

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
If you build it, Cruise will climb it