“Ghost Protocol” is a stripped-down, lo-fi “Mission Impossible.” It’s been a trend in action films, ever since “The Bourne Supremacy,” to minimize the gizmos, the explosions, the rat-tat-tat, and get bare-knuckled and nitty-gritty. The “James Bond” films got the grit treatment character-wise, moving from Roger Moore’s suave, debonair Bond to Daniel Craig’s work-a-day interpretation.
By adding much humor and the recurring theme of malfunctioning gadgetry, Brad Bird gives the terrific “M.I. Ghost Protocol” a solid roll in the grit pit, style-wise, proving that good storytelling always trumps flash for flash’s sake.
Somebody blows up the Kremlin. Tom Cruise, playing operative Ethan Hunt, gets blamed, and the president shuts down the agency. Now Hunt’s got two missions—stop more bombs from going off, and get himself back in the U.S. intelligence community’s good graces.
Since he’s cut off from the agency and all its formidable intel, backup, and extraction capabilities, Hunt, who’s heretofore been a go-it-alone tough guy, now has no choice but to throw his hat in the ring with three other ostracized agents. He’s put into the new role of team builder, operating out of a rolling safe house on a freight train.
The team consists of the tech phenom Benji Dunn (the very funny Simon Pegg), the femme fatale yet super-tough agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton, memorable as a teacher in the film “Precious”), and brainy analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner of “The Hurt Locker”). Brandt, like an onion being peeled, continually reveals layers of a violent skill set that no analyst is normally privy to, building an aura of mystery.
After Hunt is sprung from prison, they go after the Kremlin terrorists, who are fixing to blow up a nuclear bomb somewhere for world peace (and money). They globetrot around Prague, Moscow, Dubai, and Mumbai.
Hunt climbs up glass towers with lizard-like suction gloves, and runs back down them using the terrifying face-first “Australian Rappel.” He has a knock-down-drag-out fight with the main baddie in a riveting automated parking-garage scene.
The stunts are outrageous, and Tom Cruise, who loves this sort of thing, is credited for doing much of his own stunt work.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9aDxG6KZzbw[/video]
“Ghost Protocol” winds the nail biting up to a near-unbearable cliffhanger degree, thanks to Brad Bird’s sense of drama and timing. On three separate occasions, the audience tension was so high at the screening that when the final positive resolutions came, there was an audible release of held breath followed by wild clapping.
Cruise is arguably among the most successful actor in history. One just can’t dispute the billions of dollars his work has earned worldwide. He’s always been an underrated actor due to his pretty-boy looks, but he has terrific comedic skills and lacks vanity, having thoroughly spoofed his superstardom in films such as “Tropic Thunder.”
Action, however, is Cruise’s forte, and in “Ghost Protocol” he brings the gritty goods.
Brad Bird already proved he’s an exceptional director of action with “The Incredibles.” Before seeing M.I., rent “The Incredibles.” It'll be the perfect appetizer to the rip-roaring action main course of “Mission Impossible–Ghost Protocol.”
[etRating value=“ 4”]
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