Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

Paramount Pictures

It was not impossible to make a great Mission: Impossible movie. I will start off by saying I’m not a fan of the series, nor am I a fan of Tom Cruise, but either the stars were in perfect alignment or something was in the water, because this movie really impressed me.

This film begins with a spectacular prison escape of Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt, as he’s locked away in Russia. He’s joined by a new team of special agents and I felt Simon Pegg (from Star Trek and Hot Fuzz) was excellently cast as the tech-savvy Benji. Paula Patton as Agent Carter is a tough chick that brings much more to the film than females in most spy movies do. Last but not least, is Jeremy Renner as Brandt, who’s their newest field agent. The best scene comes during the middle of the movie where the team is split between different floors of a hotel in Dubai. The team is trying to double cross two sets of villains and its one of the most suspenseful scenes I’ve even seen in an action movie, that surprisingly doesn’t even need the use of any weapons!

Of course there are many staples (or clichés) of action movies that are present here. Ethan is on the run and needs a fresh change of clothes, so he steals them…and they just happen to be his exact size. Computers just happen to malfunction and then start functioning again at just the right time. And every Mission Impossible movie must have Tom Cruise lowered to the ground and dangle 5 feet above the floor. However this time it’s his partner Brandt, which they give an even more creative way to dangle above the floor.

The director Brad Bird is a pro at directing animated films, but this is his first time with a live action movie. I am a fan of his Pixar films, so I wasn’t sure if he could make the jump to live action, but his great eye for visuals helped make this into the best of the MI series. Although the final action sequence with Ethan Hunt did seem to borrow too much from his Pixar movies, if you’re familiar with them. The back and forth jumping from car to car reminded me too much of the conveyor belt chase from the end of Toy Story 2.

Underneath all of the dazzling special effects and intense chases, there’s an emotional side to the story that makes them characters instead of just good-looking stuntmen. Not only was this one of my favorites of 2011, I’m anticipating their next mission; I just hope it doesn’t take another 5 years to deliver a sequel.