This is not just another mission. The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Ethan Hunt and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization's name. No help, no contact, off the grid. You have never seen a mission grittier and more intense than this.
Earlier this year, there was the fifth entry in the Fast and the Furious series and it was filled with so much over the top action that it ended up being awesome. That was a movie that used action as its story; because of it the story was actually a piece of shit. Mission Impossible IV is the perfect example of when a movie uses action set pieces as a part of its story rather than it be its story. It’s really an amazing accomplishment when you take it all away because the plot is every bit as generic as you could come up with.
To sum up the movie in one sentence; Tom Cruise and company must save the world from a nuclear world war started by a man out for power. It doesn’t end up going the path you completely expect it to go, but if you really expect the bomb to drop, then you’re fooling yourself. In-between the big action pieces, they actually put together a plan, reveal interesting tidbits about the characters and what has happened to them in-between installments. They feel like a bigger mystery then they are because they slowly reveal this information over the entire film rather than throwing it all at you at once. It’s actually some good material that works well with the series.
Where the film takes a giant leap is in the action. Some films have one or two wow moments, three fi you’re pushing it, but Mission Impossible ends up with five completely wow moments that end up going all out. Whether it be a ten minute fight inside a futuristic parking garage of moving spots and levels to a building being completely leveled to badass cat fights. They have it all and do it well. The two sequences that are so god damn awesome come fairly close to each other so it never gives you a chance to catch your breathe. Ethan Hunt has to climb the Burj Khalifa (the tallest skyscraper in the world) and get into a room from the outside. IA lot of shit goes wrong and it gets you on the edge of your sea, jumping up at times for fear of the constant reminders of the height. This is a great accomplishment considering you know there’s no way he would fall, but it still keeps you in awe. Moments after that scene, there is a long chase through the city during a sandstorm that is nothing short of badass. It’s one of the best forty minute stretches of action I’ve ever seen.
Tom Cruise comes back as Ethan Hunt and for the first time in years, seems like he’s where he belongs. Climbing buildings and running through cities catching bad guys is what he does best and would love to see him do more of it. Paula Patton as the sexy eye candy not only handles that well, but actually contributes as well. It’s nice to see a film not hold the woman back and treat her as the agent were told she was and can be. Simon peg returns this time as a field agent and not an analyst, but still manages to bring the jokes with him about the change for him. He’s the bulk of the comedy that never overstays his welcome. The new addition to the franchise is Jeremey Renner as Brandt. This was an origin story for him that could possibly spin-off into another story that could be a lot more interesting, but for this film, he was a little bit cheesy and portrayed in the wrong manner. I think I’d rather just see Hunt and Brandt team up again for another installment. I loved what I got from this ensemble.
Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the action movie even critics will love. That seems to be a rare combination that you really shouldn’t be taken for granted because the two just don’t normally mix. If you want to sit down and have a badass two hours, you cannot go wrong with this, it’s the best in the series by far and probably reignited a candle that was thought to be on its last wire.
Overall Score: 8.5/10
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