Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol Movie Review

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Exciting and fun to watch, the fourth Mission: Impossible outing not only proves that the franchise still has sturdy legs under it but that director Brad Bird is just as good with live action as he is with CG animation.

After a botched mission in Russia which leaves the Kremlin destroyed and the entire IMF disavowed, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has to lead a mismatched team of agents who happen to be left to stop a terrorist (Michael Nyqvist)  from getting all the things he needs to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Hunt’s team consists of new to the field  computer expert Benji (Simon Pegg),  field agent with a grudge Jane (Paula Patton) and analyst Brandt (Jeremy Renner) who is more than he seems. The team is without resources and support and has to make do with what they have on hand which makes things a bit trickier than even the most impossible of missions. This leads to generally more creative solutions and more desperate attempts than we usually get from the series and adds to the stakes quite a bit.

The plot is a little thinner this time around than normal and never gets to the complexity of the first and third entries ( the second was much more about action than anything else…also doves) but it isn’t brainless and serves to drive the characters forward without feeling like it is all just an excuse. The characters each have something they are hiding and that adds to the flavor a bit but the reveals of those secrets are a little underwhelming. I would have liked a bit more creativity on that front but given the creativity in other areas makes up for it.

From a writing standpoint, the film really shines in the character interactions. These tend to be funny and natural with some effective dramatic elements thrown in for good measure. In past efforts, team members have been more or less ciphers just around to back Ethan up and maybe take a bullet if the script needed the weight. Here the team members are much more fleshed out and it feels like an ensemble piece as opposed to just watching Tom Cruise do crazy things that should kill a normal man.  He still does that here but the other team members have plenty to do and carry their own weight and eventually do their own crazy things that should kill normal men and women. It was a refreshing change that helped to repair the feel of the source material.

The real star of course is the gadget assisted over the top action and it does not disappoint. Cruise is pretty amazing when it comes to doing stunts and it makes for a very exciting, tense and visceral experience to have the camera tight on his face as he is scaling the tallest building in the world or fighting dozens of guys in a tight hallway. The action is well shot and expertly choreographed and performed with the utmost of skill. It isn’t just Cruise either. Renner and Patton are equally badass throughout the movie and Nyqvist’s Hendricks is a formidable opponent. Again, the ensemble feel of the action pays off dividends as it adds to the overall variety and keeps things from feeling tired or stale.

The non-action performances were very good  across the board and the chemistry between the IMF team is pretty perfect. There is a decent risk of the material degrading to melodrama but this never happens. The camaraderie as well as the conflict feels very natural and genuine. You can say what you want about Tom Cruise, and god knows there is a lot to say, in his personal life but as an actor he is on point. Ethan Hunt as a character has managed to make it through four films without feeling stale and retreaded and that is due in large part to Cruise’s charisma and willingness to do whatever he needs to for an exciting scene. Simon Pegg is invaluable here as comic relief that is also functional. He isn’t an action star here but he contributes to the team in meaningful ways. He also serves as the audience surrogate who reacts to the insanity of what the team has to do with the proper levels of humor and incredulity.

Renner’s Brandt is a layered character which asks a couple of different things from him and he delivers splendidly. He handles the action with as much effortlessness as Cruise and manages to distinguish himself as a lead who could take over the franchise without being a carbon copy of Hunt. Patton has a kind of standard revenge trip role but manages to elevate it by not overplaying the drama while at the same time not underselling it. Nyqvist does a great job as the villain Hendricks and manages to menace without repeating moves by previous series heavies. He has a quiet self assurance that gives him the gravitas he needs to be a threat without ever resorting to scenery chewing.

The effects and the camera work are pretty incredible. The shots we get here are clear and exciting and, particularly if you see this in IMAX, serve to put you in the scene next to the actors. During the Dubai climbing scene I felt my fear of heights engage and it made my toes curl. Likewise, during a scene in which we are given an in the vehicle POV shot when an SUV roles I found myself in the midst of some PTSD from a recent roll over car accident I was in. That wasn’t so pleasant for me but it illustrates fairly nicely just how in the action this movie makes you feel.

Conclusion [9.5 out of 10]

Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol isn’t perfect but it is pretty close, delivering exactly what I want out of this kind of movie. The story could use more depth and some of the twists could have been more original and better executed but this is made up for by the drive of the action and the clever dialogue and top notch performances. I loved Brad Bird’s work with Pixar but I am now very excited to see where else his work with live action will take us. I think I will always prefer the first Mission:Impossible but this one is a close second and if you are into this sort of film you will not be disappointed.

719 Comments


  1. Just got back from this (went and saw it after reading your review) and really liked it. Would give it a solid 9 out of 10.

    The entire Dubai sequence gave me sweaty palms… multiple scenes in the movie were shot *so well* that I jumped in my seat (more like jerked upright)… just a lot of quality stuff in there.

    Liked the characters, the events and the solutions to the problems.

    There wasn’t a ton of time on the actual setup of operations, just sort of jumped right into execution and everything mostly panning out, but I didn’t really mind that because there wasn’t ONE operation that needed to be executed (like an Oceans 11 or something) there were multiple ones, so you would move from one action scene to another.

    Also, Tom Cruise runs fast.














































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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