Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

When a terrorist known as “Cobalt” schemes to start a nuclear war, veteran IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is sprung from a Russian prison to stop him. A trip to the Kremlin to unearth Cobalt’s identity goes disastrously wrong, and Ethan’s team is framed for a terrorist attack and disavowed. Now, it is up to him, agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton), technician Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and mysterious analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) to stop Cobalt (Michael Nyqvist) before it is too late.

If there is one defining feature to the Mission: Impossible films, it is that you get something different every time. All four films have had different directors, and each one has left a different imprint on the series. This one is helmed by Incredibles director Brad Bird (in his live-action debut), and he takes a back-to-basics approach. Because Ethan’s team is cut off from funding/support, you won’t see nearly as much technological wizardry and heavy firepower as previous films, though a fair amount of gadgetry is still on display. Pair this with some breathtaking visuals – we are treated to a bird’s eye view of the 2,700-ft tall Burj Khalifa tower – and a few clever nods to the original TV series, and Bird acquits himself quite well behind the camera.

Alas, not everything in the film works quite as well as the car chases and fisticuffs. The plot is a throwback in the worst way, simplistic and clichéd (nuclear war with Russia? Really? What decade is this?), Nyqvist’s Cobalt makes for a bland, dull villain (particularly compared to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s turn in the previous film), and Renner, ever the maverick, feels miscast as the reluctant, hyper-logical Brandt.

On the plus side, Patton plays a convincing second-in-command and imbues her character with vindictive edge. Pegg, as always, can be counted on for well-timed comic relief. And say what you want about Cruise as a person, but the controversial couch-jumper owns this role. Watch him run, jump, fight, drive, climb, adopt accents and disguises, and do all the other things that Ethan Hunt is known for, and you’ll instantly forget you’re looking at someone who is only 5’7” and rapidly approaching 50.

All in all, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is satisfyingly nostalgic entertainment, but the weak links and the contrived ending prevent it from being one of the best in the series.

7.5/10