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Tom Cruise might be returning as Ethan Hunt but director Brad Bird, responsible for helming the beloved animated films Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles, is the real hero of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. His live-action debut is a solid action film that is as hard-hitting as it is old-fashioned in its approach to some solid movie magic full of heroes and villains. It’s a globetrotting adventure that settles easily into its action-heavy groove. Armed with a 65 mm camera and a great knack for setting up adventurous sequences, Bird brings the second best Mission Impossible movie – the best being director J.J. Abrams’s effort – to IMAX screens this Friday and a general wide release on December 21st.
Written by written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (former Alias scribes), Ghost Protocol builds its narrative core from the elaborate action pieces that surround it. The film opens with a bit of a teaser that features agent (LOST’s Josh Holloway) from the Impossible Mission Force getting gunned down by freelance assassin Sabine Moreau (Lea Seydoux) over a briefcase that, as we’ll find out, everyone wants.
Ethan Hunt, after being rescued from a Moscow prison, is assigned to lead Agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) on a mission to find out the identity of a person of interest code-named "Cobalt". It’s a mission that leads them inside the walls of the Kremlin where, much to their surprise, the team discovers that “Cobalt” is also inside the Kremlin and broadcasting on their frequency. They soon learn a bomb has been planted and, with very little time, much clear the Kremlin before it goes off.
They don’t make it and Hunt is nearly killed. Accused of being responsible for the bomb, Hunt and his team are quick enemies of the Russians and disavowed by the President of the United States. Suddenly, the Cold War is back on as “Cobalt” wants nothing more to launch a nuclear weapon at the United States.
Hunt and his team are extracted by the IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) and IMF analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and, while disavowed, are given a secret agenda to stop “Cobalt” by any means necessary as nuclear Armageddon is solely on his mind. From Russia, the team travels to the Burj Khalifa, glass-walled building that is the tallest structure in the world, in Dubai and then into the depths of India as they pursue the mad actions of Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist, who has nuclear launch key codes and mass-destruction on his mind.
Jettisoning the impenetrable plots of the first two films, Bird and Co. keep things fleet-footed and speedy at all times with only the tiniest of lulls in the middle of the third act. Certainly, the fourth film based on the 1960s Mission: Impossible TV series feels as fresh as the third one, but in a weird sort of way it also comes across as a reboot of the franchise (or maybe just a large apology for John Woo’s over-the-top sequel). There’s a new superhero-as-spy aspect to the film that is very similar to the good-humored spirit of The Incredibles. True, it’s not as grounded in the gritty realism of Abrams’s MI3 but Bird doesn’t steer the franchise wrong. There are several well-directed action scenes – one inside a Russian prison with only Dean Martin’s ‘Ain’t that a Kick in the Head’ as Cruise’s guiding muse - that keep things chugging along.
But let’s put rumors to rest. It quickly becomes apparent that Cruise is not getting booted from the series by Renner. Frankly, as a fan of Cruise’s earnestness throughout each of the films as Hunt, I have no interest in seeing a Mission Impossible film without him. Scaling the side of skyscraper in Dubai might sound insane and be improbable, but Cruise sells it and he sells it well. I flinched. I experienced vertigo. I winced in pain and I grabbed the armrests.
All because of Cruise.
Renner’s Brandt gets some equally hair-raising situations. Yet, being a rather newcomer to the whole ludicrous action genre, he doesn’t quite pull off his stunts. In one sequence, wearing a suit of chain mail, Renner jumps into a giant fan only to be suspended by small magnets and moved through shafts by a tiny Mars rover-like vehicle. He chuckles beforehand; he hesitates. So do we. There’s only so much implausibility with our impossible missions that we can swallow before we choke.
Scenes like that one illustrate just how important Cruise is to the franchise. He can make the impossible possible. Hell, it is possible this film can restore some of his lost action-star mojo. Put all that aside, though. Bird is the man of the hour. He delivers a great entry into the series by keeping things old-fashioned and fun. Directors like Bird are exactly why directors like Michael Bay suck. They deliver improbability with a finesse that doesn’t cause PTSD in its audience.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is fun and cool and sleek. It’s a great crowd pleaser and, with impeccable action choreography and a confident use of immersive IMAX technology, is one of the best action flicks of the 2011.
Light the fuse indeed.
MPAA Rating: 
