Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Director: Brad Bird
Screenplay: André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
Music: Michael Giacchino
Time: 132 minutes
Bottom-line: Gripping action... impossible to miss!

Tom Cruise reprises his role as Agent Ethan Hunt in the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. The 2011 film comes with more action, more thrills and a much tougher mission. The cast includes Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton in the lead roles, with Anil Kapoor, Michael Nyqvist and Léa Seydoux in the supporting roles.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt

After a brief opening sequence in Budapest, the story immediately shifts to Moscow, where Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is spending his time in a prison. Newly promoted field agent Benji (Pegg) and Jane Carter (Patton) rescue Ethan from the prison, and en route to receiving his mission, Carter tells Ethan that they are looking for a certain “Cobalt”. The task Ethan receives is that he should infiltrate the Kremlin’s archives to extract information about Cobalt. Something goes wrong, and Ethan is forced to abort. He barely escapes, when the Kremlin is bombed. He later comes to know that the Russians have held the IMF responsible for bombing the Kremlin, and so, the American President has initiated Ghost Protocol: the entire IMF has been disavowed. Analyst William Brandt (Renner), Carter, Benji and Ethan are all that is left of it. The team comes to know that Cobalt has acquired a nuclear launch-control device, and all he needs to launch the missile are the activation codes. The four of them are the only ones left to stop him from creating a nuclear war. The mission begins...

Jeremy Renner as Brandt

Now the key thing to remember is, when Tom Cruise does something, it always works out. Of course, this is not new... this has been happening since the time of James Bond, and even before that. When you create a hero who provides non-stop entertainment, the viewers often have to take reality out of the picture. But despite this constraint, MI: 4 is impressive in almost every other aspect. First off, the action: in my view, MI: 4 contains some of the best action sequences among films of this decade, in my view. I think the sequence of Ethan Hunt scaling the glass surface of Burj Khalifa is quite popular, even among those who haven’t seen the film yet. But the film also contains some other impressive stunts, like the sandstorm chase that follows, the Kremlin sequence, and of course, the finale between Ethan and Cobalt in Mumbai. Again, remember, when Ethan climbs the Burj, all of Dubai’s security are too lazy to notice him, or the glass panes he breaks. And Ethan is probably the only one who can drive a BMW i8 at high speeds on a Mumbai road!

Patton as Jane

To compromise for the superhuman talents of the heroes, the writers decided to give a tougher mission. I guess that’s what MI: 4 the most interesting film of the series, because it is about just four people who stand against nuclear war (as the tagline says “No plan; No backup; No contact; No choice”). The story moves at breakneck pace, and what I found amusing is the way the writers’ minds worked when they decided the stunts Ethan would perform: like the way he re-enters the Burj from outside, and the way he drives the car off the platform ten storeys down to disable the missile in time!

Simon Pegg as Benji

Tom Cruise has done a remarkable job in the film. He plays the lead role with unmatchable style and he does exactly what the audience want him to do: entertain them thoroughly, without a pause. Accompanying him with another commendable performance is Jeremy Renner. Simon Pegg does well do provide humour whenever needed. Only Paula Patton, I felt, could have improved a little bit more. But another interesting piece of information is that all the stunts were performed by the actors themselves, without any stunt doubles. The cinematography was top-notch, and in fact, Brad Bird insisted on using the IMAX format rather than 3D to get sharper images. The background score was superb too, and the title sequence of the film was also innovative.

The picture on the left is one that
 has been going around
for a while, showing Tom Cruise actually posing
on the top of Burj Khalifa's spire.
The second picture gives you an idea of how the
shooting took place.  

While Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol certainly requires you to start watching it with an open mind, which is ready to believe anything it sees, the film provides everything that you expect from an action film: stunts, thrills, car chases... everything – watch out for the Burj Khalifa sequence, in particular. This is one hell of a ride that you can’t miss, especially if you are a fan of action films.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%