Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist
Country: United States
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 132 minutes
One of my favorite things about the Mission: Impossible franchise is that there is typically four to six years in between each entry. Therefore, each installment feels well earned and never rushed. Each film always feels essential to the times and gives Cruise another chance to play the ever lovable Ethan Hunt. That's another thing I love about this franchise; Cruise doesn't rely upon it for his career. He does all types of films in between each Mission entry. When Cruise does return to a Mission film though, it feels like we are meeting up with an old friend who has a new bag of tricks to show us. And in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, that bag of tricks includes a car chase in a sand storm, a fight inside of a futuristic parking garage, and Tom Cruise climbing the tallest building on the planet.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is currently the highest grossing entry in the franchise. It is also the most critically hailed entry as well, with numerous critics praising the film's humor, pace, and unbearable tension. Interestingly enough, the film was directed by first time live action director Brad Bird, well known for masterful animated features like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. It's interesting watching Ghost Protocol because it's not often that animated filmmakers make live action films. Therefore, it's harder to spot the filmatisms that reflect Bird's works the way that De Palma, Woo, and Abrams left their mark all over their respective franchise entries. Still, Bird's Mission is an exciting entry in the series and one that serves as a throwback to the De Palma days in which Ethan engaged in various heists instead of shootouts. If Bird had tossed in a few bad ass gun fights into the mix, than Ghost Protocol would probably be my favorite entry in the series.
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| Cruise runs for his life from Mother Russia's Kremlin. |
Ghost Protocol's plot is arguably the most complex of the franchise yet. In this entry, we meet Ethan as he breaks out of a Russian prison with help from fellow agents Benji (Simon Pegg now expanded to a significant supporting role) and Jane (newcomer Paula Patton). Ethan and his team than make their way to the Kremlin in Russia and infiltrate the building in order to obtain files identifying a man known as "Cobalt." However, the mission ends in disaster when "Cobalt" bombs the Kremlin and makes the IMF appear responsible in an attempt at sparking a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. As a result, The United States Government enacts Ghost Protocol; this disavows the entire IMF until they can prove themselves innocent of the attack. It is than up to Ethan, Benji, Jane, and additional newcomer Brandt (Jeremy Renner, The Bourne Legacy) to stop Cobalt from nuking the U.S. and to clear their names. As usual with the franchise, a mere four agents go up against impossible odds and come out on top. However, Ghost Protocol squeezes in an essential sub-plot concerning Ethan's wife Julia that pays off in a big way and for the first time establishes actual continuity between franchise entries.
Ghost Protocol is a very tense and exciting globe trotting spy thriller that takes us from Russia to Mumbai. The film is packed with memorable characters, varied settings, and stunning set pieces that remind the viewer why Mission: Impossible is such a great blockbuster franchise. Even though Ethan and his team travel the globe in the film, all of the set pieces and character moments are small scaled in nature. No matter how large a battle Man of Steel or The Avengers ends on, none of those films can compete with the compact tension on display in Ghost Protocol's technologically advanced parking garage fight and the now infamous Burj climbing sequence.
Unfortunately, Ghost Protocol is more of a team driven film focused on gadgets and plot than an action film starring Tom Cruise. Cruse is still the lead, but the lead of a team given equal screen time and substantial backstories. This is both a negative and a positive. It is a positive in that each team member feels like an actual character instead of an archetypal computer hacker or fist fighter. Whereas previous IMF agents were typically bland characters, Ghost Protocol's teammates are fully fleshed out characters with miniature story arcs of their own.
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| Just running down the world's tallest building. No big deal. |
However, this team driven nature of the film is a negative in that the focus is taken off of Ethan. I love the team driven nature of the film, I really do. But, I prefer my Ethan Hunt when he is the star running around and fighting people a-la M:i:I, M:i:II, and M:i:III. Ghost Protocol is great stuff, but it lacks the gritty, personal, and grounded bad-ass nature that made parts of M:i:II good and all of M:i:III great. The only time that Ghost Protocol encroaches upon gritty and bad-ass action is in the final action sequence. As Ethan chases Cobalt around a technologically advanced parking garage, the two beat the crap out of one another and leap from one moving platform to another. It makes for an incredibly tense sequence filled with moments that will make you gasp and hold your breath. Even though all of the film's other set pieces are solid, none of them give me that bad-ass thrill that the motorcycle chase from M:i:II or the bridge attack from M:i:III gave me.
That select personal opinion being said, Ghost Protocol is still great entertainment as far as team driven films go. All of the set pieces are a lot of fun and blockbuster filmmaking at its finest. Ghost Protocol might have the most variety in its set pieces than any other entry in the franchise. In one film, we see Ethan escape from prison, break into the Kremlin, escape a sunken car, climb up and down the side of the world's tallest building, fight a group of henchies inside of said building, chase Cobalt in a sand storm, and than fight Cobalt once and for all inside of a parking garage. Talk about bang for your buck. Most fans remember the Burj sequence as the almighty show stopper of both the film and the entire franchise. I have to admit, the Burj sequence is incredible stuff bolstered by both its practicality (no green screens here) and sheer insanity (Ethan runs down a freaking building).
As I stated before, the supporting teammates are one of the film's strongest points. Benji is upgraded to a larger supporting role from his small three scene appearance in M:i:III. Pegg is one of the best comedic voices in cinema today. Therefore, I am happy to see Shaun of the Dead himself become a staple of the franchise. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton are fantastic additions as well. Unfortunately, franchise regulars Ving Rhames and Michelle Monaghan are reduced to small cameos in the film's final scene. While it sucks to go through an entire Mission film without our hacker friend Luther or Ethan's newly established wife, their single scene inclusion is well spent.
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| Renner and Patton take aim at Cruise in one of the film's tensest scenes. |
Now that I think of it, Ghost Protocol lacks both a helping heaping of bad ass action and a bad ass villain. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's villainous performance from M:i:III was one for the books. He owned that film with every second he had on screen. Unfortunately, Ghost Protocol's villain is barely memorable or visible. Cobalt, portrayed by Michael Nyqvist (also of John Wick villainy), has very few scenes to establish a menacing presence or leave a lasting impact on the viewer. It's clear that Bird wanted the villain to be kept in the shadows as much as possible. The character pops up for the first time out of nowhere in the middle of the Kremlin mission and doesn't truly reappear until the very end of the film. There's nothing wrong with Nyqvist's performance, it's just that his character has no character, plain and simple. It's also a bummer to watch a Mission film where the lead villain has a single henchman and no cronies to back him up. I love a good Mission film where the villain has number of cronies for Ethan to shoot up or take on. It also makes a villain seem more prominent when they have a group of men working for them. Therefore, Ghost Protocol's villain leaves much to be desired. I guess we should be thankful that Nyqvist isn't as bad as Dougray Scott in M:i:II.
It seems that after three entries, Paramount is done with numbering their Mission films. We live in a day and age where studios seem ashamed at numbering their franchise entries. It's rare that a franchise entry includes any number above three next to its title. The only contemporary franchise I can think of that wears its numbers proudly on its sleeve is the Fast and Furious franchise, currently at entry number seven. However, most contemporary franchise entries (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past) incorporate a sub-title next to the main title in order to avoid sequel fatigue. I'm sad to say it but Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the first entry in its series to ditch the roman numerals. I have always found roman numerals to be a classy way to number your franchise entries anyways. And with the recently titled Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation set for release in July 2015, it seems the numerals are out for good.
I am also sad to report that Ethan's alternating hair length ends here. While each entry has alternated Ethan's hair length, the recently revealed fifth entry shows Ethan with a long head of hair. I was really hoping that Cruise would have a short head of hair a-la Jack Reacher to go with his second McQuarrie team up. Oh well, let's hope the film is good despite Tom Cruise's hair cut.
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| This parking garage sequence is infinitely re-watchable. It's that great. |
After the one-two-punch of Mission: Impossible III and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, I cannot wait for what Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation has in store for us. The Mission: Impossible franchise is currently on a role and I could not be happier about it. Ghost Protocol is a great entry that any one can enjoy. For the first time in the series, you don't have to be a Tom Cruise fan to find enjoyment in this globe trotting thriller. If you don't connect with Cruise, you'll be sure to connect with one of the likable teammates or tense heists scattered throughout the film. This is still a solid entry in the series that any action fan should enjoy despite the lack of grounded/personal action or a truly menacing villain. I'll be back to celebrate the Ethan Hunt saga in July with...Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation! Until then, I recommend revisiting all four of the Mission: Impossible installments in order to get caught up on the series.
Rating: 9/10 - Although I prefer Ethan Hunt and his fellow antagonist to be more deadly and bad ass, this is a truly fantastic spy thriller that sets the bar high for future franchise entries.
Franchise:
Mission: Impossible (1996, dir. Brian De Palma)
Mission: Impossible II (2000, dir. John Woo)
Mission: Impossible III (2006, dir. J.J. Abrams)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011, dir. Brad Bird)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015, dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
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