Movie Review: ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL’

Usually a fourth installment in a film series that ranges from classic to god-awful is not met with the anticipation that Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has going for it.  Many people still can’t quite forgive what John Woo gave us in the second film.  However, what excites many about Tom Cruise’s fourth mission is the chance to see what Pixar legend Brad Bird can do with real actors.  The man is responsible for giving us loving and character-driven animated films like The Incredible, Ratattoille, and The Iron Giant.  Let’s see if he can ignite movie magic when dealing with real people and real locations.

Like most Mission: Impossible adventures, the film opens with a large action sequence that sets the pace for the entire film: 100 mph with little time to actually think about what you are watching.  After an IMF agent is killed after trying to recover some nuclear detonation codes, we are treated to a funny and yet exhilarating prison-break to release Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) from captivity.  His team includes the hard-hitting beauty Jane (Paula Patton) and the computer-hacking and wise-cracking Benji (Simon Pegg).  The three are then immediately sent on a new mission to infiltrate the Kremlin and find an evil agent by the name Cobalt.  Unlucky for them, the mission goes awry and the IMF team is disavowed and left on their own by the US government.  Well . . . they aren’t exactly left on their own.  They still have the help of a convenient train loaded with gadgets and a secretive government agent played with icy stares by Jeremy Renner.  Next up: Find Cobalt and discover how he is involved with the missing nuclear activation codes.  This sees the team go from the tallest building in the world in Dubai to the gorgeous palaces of Mumbai.

M:I -Ghost Protocol is a film that is meant to be see on the IMAX.  The stunning city-scapes are larger than life as many times it appears as if we are flying over the landscapes.  This is the most evident in the highlight of the entire film: Ethan’s scaling of a tall hotel building.  Just as you can imagine, this nerve-wracking, sweat-inducing sequence is brought even more to scale with the intensity of the IMAX experience.  Bird has created a classic scene that is almost worth the price of admission in and of itself.  However, this and the Russian prison break are the only sparks that are ignited in this overly long fuse.

Compared to the tension that director Brian De Palma created using a few set-pieces in the original film  from 1996, Ghost Protocol is an over-worked Swiss-army knife filled to the gills with high-tech gadgetry and unnecessary tools.  In a set-up straight-out-of a dated 60’s spy novel – a Russian wants to create nuclear war – the paper thin structure is padded with extra scenes and characters to make it appear more complex than it is.  We get a blonde beauty wanting to trade the codes for diamonds and a Mumbai king attempting to get his “rocks off”, but we are never given any real scenes with our main villain Hendricks (played by Michael Nyqvist from the Swedish Girl With a Dragon Tattoo).  For the majority of the film he’s almost never really seen or heard of, leaving the actor to not really do anything until a final fight sequence which seems unbelievable when comparing his stocky frame to Tom Cruise’s fit appearance.  Most of the other actors do a fine job with the more action oriented material.  Cruise knows hows to entertain and thrill viewers even if the character of Ethan Hunt seems to hint at escaping this world of espionage.  Simon Pegg plays the funny tech-guy which doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for the quirky Brit.  Do all computer hackers in cinema history have to be the source of jokes?

The most glaring misstep in this care-free action adventure is how Bird and his team of writers instill an overuse of gadgets and gizmos to get the job done.  An agent jumps off a roof . . .give him a pocket-sized self-inflating cushion to land on.  Cruise and Pegg have to sneak down a hallway unnoticed.  Forget the simplicity of sneaking around corners and doorways . . . give them a screen and projector to stand behind to appear that they are not their.  A Russian phone and train car used to unveil more “secret agent” pit-stops are nothing compared to an almost laughable final sequence involving Renner, a metal suit, and a remote-controlled robot.  Sequences like these reminded me of what I hated about some of the later Pierce Brosnan James Bond films from the 90’s. Not only do they come off as silly and ridiculous, but they act as a cheap way to maneuver through a weak script.  Storytelling issues aside, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a well executed, gorgeously shot, meticulously choreographed, first feature outing by Brad Bird.  His ability to envelope the viewer in the environment with the help of the IMAX cameras is worth applauding.  If you find charm in watching good-locking people trek all over the globe with the most up-to-date technology, you might find this Ghost to be more striking than I did.