Movie Review: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

 “The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name.”

Genre : Action

Director : Brad Bird

Writers : Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum

Cast : Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the fourth entry in the M:I movie franchise. It’s been forty-five years since the classic television show and it’s nice to see that the name still means something today. This time around, Mission: Impossible 3 director J.J. Abrams prefers to stay in the background and offers the seat to Pixar filmmaker Brad Bird. Having only directed The Incredibles, The Iron Giant and Ratatouille, this marks the first live-action film he’s ever done.  It’s an interesting choice considering the franchise has always been handled by big name action directors; you would think that Bird would be at a disadvantage here. I am happy to say that this is not the case.

J.J. Abrams still calls in his friends to help out. Alias writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec were brought on to write the script. Abrams’ go-to musical composer, Michael Giacchino comes back for a second round in the franchise and interestingly enough is also the composer on many of Pixar’s biggest films. The comic relief of Star Trek and M:I3, Simon Pegg, returns in a big way. He’s no longer a technician, but a real field agent and a member of Ethan Hunt’s team. And fans of LOST will enjoy seeing Josh Holloway (Sawyer) as Agent Hanaway. It’s a big role for Holloway and he proves that he has what it takes to be a big action star himself.

Tom Cruise, of course, returns as agent Ethan Hunte and is given a sort of side kick with Jeremy Renner. It’s been a good year for Renner as he’s managed to also get himself in other big name franchises like Marvel’s Avengers and the Bourne series. Despite suspicions, Ghost Protocol isn’t about handing the reigns over to Renner but more about getting the audience comfortable with a character who will eventually be taking over once Cruise decides to step away. Though Cruise is pushing 50, he’s still got what it takes to be an action hero and still runs the show.

While fans of the M:I franchise have come to expect intricate plots and surprise twists, Bird decides to go in a more shallow, straight forward and albeit, more boring approach. On a mission in Russia, Hunt and his team are sabotaged and the IMF agency is made to look like they’re responsible. As a result the entire agency is shut down permanently and all agents are being branded as potential terrorists. As an impending nuclear war starts to take shape between America and Russia, Hunt and his team take it upon themselves to get to the bottom of things.

The other big difference with Ghost Protocol is the comedy. It’s absolutely full of great lines from Simon Pegg. As he’s now a main character, he gives the movie a much different feel and you’ll spend half the film laughing instead of sitting on the edge of your seat. I loved the jokes but there were just too many. It’s as if Bird didn’t realize that each time you make the audience laugh, you cut the tension that you were previously building. As a result, Ghost Protocol is more of a fun popcorn flick then a teeth grinding intensity cinema charge that we got with M:I3.

The biggest improvement with GP is that all of its major action scenes were shot for the IMAX screen. As a result, seeing the big action moments on a 6 story high screen were astounding to watch and put you in the middle of the action. As an added bonus, those who see the movie in IMAX are treated to six minutes of footage on the upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. (You can read our impressions HERE) Even more impressive is that the cinematography is really well done all throughout the movie, regardless of the shot being an IMAX scene or not. Bird clearly knew how to film this movie in such a way that you never get bored and the entire movie flies by – making you lose all concept of time.

GP is filled with adrenaline pumping action but more importantly, it’s some of the most creative action you’ve ever seen.  Bird definitely uses his Pixar brain to give us a grounded but still imaginative film. The M:I series is renowned for their use of fictional and cool gadgetry. Ghost Protocol raises the bar in that regard as it gives us some seriously cool and creative tech. I won’t spoil any of it but the gadgets are easily the best in the franchise. I also enjoyed how Bird took the film to areas not often seen in action movies these days. From the Russian Kremlin in Moscow, to the worlds talent building in Dubai and then to Mumbai India; Ghost Protocol is filled with first time settings and memorable locations.

The film manages to throw in some subtle nods to the previous films and even a few familiar faces. The quick scene with the long blonde haired guy who covers Ethan in the black patched shroud was my personal favorite. Although when I think back at all the things I loved about the previous films (M:I1 and M:I3 – strange how they never made a M:I2 nyuk nyuk) I am forced to remember how they did a lot of things better than Bird’s version. The characters in Ghost Protocol are without any complexity, save for Renner. The drama that we do get is melodrama and it generally goes to the side characters, leaving Cruise to do the impossible action scenes. There was little to no depth or development to the character of Ethan Hunt. On top that, I’ve always said that a hero is only as strong as the villain. Ghost Protocol has the worst villain in the series, without question. Codenamed Cobalt, the villain is only in the film for a few minutes and we learn everything we need to know about him in quick team-briefing exposition. He’s incredibly generic, easily forgettable and I still really don’t understand what his motive was. As a result we never feel invested in the characters or the over simplified story and there’s very little in the way of deserved tension.

While composer Michael Giacchino returned to give us an updated sound track, it was somewhat disappointing. It was rather dull and the infamous M:I theme song was rarely used. Instead Giacchino opted to use more of a regional flair based on where we were in the movie and as a result we get one of Giacchino’s weakest performances.

While I praised the creativity of the gadgets earlier, I also must mention that they are more for show and less for the sake of the mission. The gizmos of the previous films were incorporated into the plot of the story, rather than being a simple prop for props sake. GP instead just puts the toys in there because they look cool with absolutely no relevance or practicality to what’s going on. Another disappointment was the use of the fake identity masks. Every M:I movie has used the fake masks that allows the IMF agents to appear as someone else. GP teases us with the idea but instead prefers to not use them in interest of comedy. I believe a mask was used one time and it was for a completely pointless reason.

GP is more about flair than story or practicality, so much so, that I felt like every scene that had both Cruise and Renner in it felt like a “best dressed” contest. I was actually distracted by the fact that they were both frequently dressed in extremely shiny and slim Armani suites whenever they could. The product placement was another distraction for me. Apparently the IMF uses IPhones, IPads and MacBooks for EVERYTHING now.  I believe a Windows phone was used at one point but it suspiciously failed when it was needed. And if you’ve seen the trailers you can’t help but notice the futuristic BMW i8 hybrid car that won’t be on the market until 2014. Again, GP is more about flair than practicality.

While Ghost Protocol doesn’t come close to the masterpiece of M:I3, it is still a very strong entry into the franchise and, despite its flaws, it may be one of this year’s best action films. It’s essentially a simple in-your-face, action flick that just wants to be a fun ride. I highly recommend checking this one out in a real IMAX theater.

Fun fact – Ethan Hunt’s code number is “A113″. A113 is a frequent Pixar in-joke based on one of the room numbers for the animation program at Cal Arts. The director Brad Bird worked for Pixar.