Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Before beginning this review I have a
startling confession to make: I’ve never seen a Mission Impossible
film.
It’s not that I have a problem with either
Tom Cruise or the spy genre as a whole; on the contrary I don’t mind
which intergalactic being a person worships and can quite happily spend
an evening watching copious episodes of Spooks or the mindlessly
enjoyable Maggie Q series Nikita. Rather I just never got around
to it, but having been a fan of Brad Bird’s directorial output since his
Simpsons days I was looking forward to this fourth instalment
ever since its announcement.
And, thankfully for fans of the franchise,
it doesn’t disappoint. Both the highest grossing film of the series so
far and, with a box office take of some $700 million, the most lucrative
of Tom Cruise’s 30-year career, Ghost Protocol boasts a heady
blend of high-tech gadgetry, mind-blowing action sequences and special
effects wizardry the likes of which have seldom before been committed to
the screen.
This latest instalment opens with hero
Ethan Hunt (inexplicably clad in a singlet to better show off Cruise’s
recent gym work) being busted out of a Moscow prison by a team which
consists, all but inevitably, of a wisecracking but distinctly nerdy
sidekick (Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz) and an attractive, leggy brunette
(real-life leggy brunette Paula Patton, formerly touted as the next
Halle Berry). Together various combinations of the threesome must don
the appropriate disguises, travel to various exotic locales incognito,
put presumably classified multi-million dollar technology to efficient
use then thoughtlessly leave it in enemy hands once the job is complete,
undertake death-defying stunts and engage in torrents of ass-kickery
with a selection of alternately hulking and nubile villains.
There’s a more specific plot in there
somewhere, something about an exploding suitcase and the IMF, but I
don’t want to spoil too much of the storyline. Suffice it to say that
those who can suspend their disbelief to the requisite degree will be in
for a rare visual treat, and a big-budget popcorn movie of the highest
order.
Special Features
Two short but illuminating Featurettes
on the props and special effects, and three Deleted Scenes with
optional commentary by Brad Bird.
