MIssion: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Starring: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg
Director: Brad Bird
Rating: 4/5
Mission Impossible is a franchise that’s always lacked consistency. Apart from Tom Cruise propping up the poster, you’ve never known what you’re going to get.
After Brian DePalma’s great opener, John Woo’s misguided sequel and JJ Abrams competent third, the films have never really found their own voice. With Ghost Protocol, they may just have nailed it.
Ghost Protocol picks up the story of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) being broken out of a Russian prison by IMF agents (and new team members) Dunn and Carter (Simon Pegg and Paula Patton) before a being asked to stop maniacal nuclear terrorist Kurt Hendricks from inside the Kremlin. The mission goes array though, leading to not only Ethan but the whole IMF agency getting disavowed.
Without backup, and only a train car full of gear, Dunn, Carter and mysterious analyst Brandt (Jeremy Renner) for help, Ethan must track down Hendricks and stop him starting a nuclear war.
Ex-Pixar man Brad Bird makes a fantastic live-action debut, bringing all the kinetic vitality and enormous action of The Incredibles to the real world. Seemingly unfazed by a lack of animators, Bird has made a gorgeous, crisp film full of sumptuous panoramas and beautifully framed set pieces.
These are the real highlights of the film, starting from hectic and only ever building up with great creativity and variety.
The continuing craziness on screen is easily the best from the series so far and keeps the film flowing at a frantic pace. Some real credit also has to go to the sound department, with every hit sounding so vicious you’ll be checking for bruises when the lights come up.
Another high point is the team that lies at the heart of Ghost Protocol. For the first time, a Mission Impossible team feels like more than a group of strangers.
These are all full characters, with little story arcs for all, giving the much better group dynamic that the series has always failed at.
This is all helped by a great script, delivering delicately woven exposition with great dashes of humour. Add in a great ensemble cast performance and top-notch music and Ghost Protocol marks a new high for the series.
Ghost Protocol does have its downsides though, with the film having an incredibly bland villain. Hardly getting any screen time, Hendricks feels more like an excuse for action than a real antagonist, never feeling threatening despite his ability to change from professor to warrior at the drop of a hat.
But that really is the only downside to find though. Despite a dull villain and a rather standard base plot, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a fantastic, fun romp and the perfect antidote to the dry Oscar bait and chilly winds the new year always brings.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is out now.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith