Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) Dir. by Brad Bird

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.



Mission: Impossible has been a pretty unique road so far. The first one of course being the best, when it was almost all about the spy game and less about the explosions. Then John Woo did Mission: Impossible II which was pretty much just that... all about the explosions. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to see in the theater, but offered no rewatch value. Then... the great J.J. Abrams takes over and brings some life back to the MI series. Now, instead of being in the directors chair he allows his rag-tag group of misfit writers to work with a director and watches the show from the producer chair. The man he got to replace him, is a unique decision all of its own. In a long line of Animation Directors turned to live-action, Brad Bird joins the club. This is the same director who brought us The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. At first this really worried me, because not everyone can make this transition, but after I have seen the film... I can say that he makes it look smooth.



The cast is surprisingly small for a movie of this caliber, and I particularly liked it. It could have been off the wall bat shit crazy tons of characters like Star Trek or Lost, but it didn't. Speaking of Lost... Sawyer is in the frickin movie! Josh Holloway has a very important character to the story and he did great with it. Otherwise we have the usuals in Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg(who offers comedic relief as usual), but then we add in a newcomer in Paula Patton and a young veteran in Jeremy Renner. All fighting to prove their innocence against the evil Kurt Hendricks, played by Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo fame. Add in a couple of great cameos from previous characters, and you have the framework for solid character development. Yes... I said development in an action film.




That is what happens when J.J. Abrams is attached to an action film... we get story too! The character development is just as essential to the film as the explosions, as we get to find out everyone's secrets just a bit at a time, and slowly learn what has happened between now and the last film. I hope the story thing didn't discourage you from watching the film. It is pretty much non-stop action from start to finish. From the insane camera angles to the elongated chases on foot, there is enough action in there to please just about anyone. This doesn't take away from the really cool spy mystery and suspense, not to mention the insane gadgets being used. These days I don't really like saying to much about a film, mostly because I have been yelled at for ruining movies for people before they get to see them, so I will stop here, but I highly recommend watching this movie, and try to do it in the theater.

Entertainment Value: 9/10 Rubber Masks
Cinematic Value: 8/10 Rubber Masks