Photo: Courtesy
I have to admit that this is my first Mission Impossible movie. Ever. So I a few “Mission Impossible-isms” may have been lost on me. Just fair warning.
The fourth installment in the Mission Impossible movies features Impossible Mission Force Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as he leads a team of ragtag misfits (just kidding, they’re all badasses) in an attempt to stop bad guy Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) from starting a nuclear war in his quest to rid the world of the weak, which is such a bad reason to start throwing nuclear weapons around. I’m not saying there are good reasons, but that specific one has to be pretty low on the list. (I assume giant spider infestation is at the top of the list.)
Ghost Protocol was directed by Brad Bird and was Bird’s first film with live-action. This is very obvious at times. From a purely structural standpoint I think Bird had trouble finding pace and urgency in the slow, emotional, and expositional scenes. Moments with any real acting value tended to drag.
That being said the action sequences were good. I mean really good. Grab-your-face-or-the-face-of-someone-next-to-you-and-squeeze good. Each action scene had its own specific rhythms.
Oh, and if you know someone who is afraid of heights, take them to this movie. You will have so much fun.
The supporting cast was pretty good. Paula Patton (Precious, Hitch) as Jane “takes her heels off to fight” Carter and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as Benji “funny accent” Dunn were both memorable and likable additions. Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as William Brandt was different enough from Ethan Hunt that he was able to bring his own appeal to the team. And I loved Tom Cruise. I know people have issues with him but as far as I could tell he didn’t bring up Scientology and he was a lot of fun to watch. He was like a short Hercules. Or a short Adonis. Or a male version of Megan Fox if she was older and had won an Oscar and maybe gotten a little better at acting. In conclusion, I have to say that I support Tom Cruise and his shaggy hair. Creepy enough? Let’s move on.
Maybe it depends on your experience with the other Mission Impossible movies, but I did not love this film. It was what it was and when it was over I was left with a little less money and some confusing Tom Cruise dreams. Overall, not an ideal situation.
There is one thing I can to say for these IMF guys though: They can wear sunglasses, indoors, during the day and not look like douche bags. I find that both impressive and alarming.
