Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Best. “Mission.” Yet.
No, don’t worry. I’m not going to post a three word review, although if this movie had blown it, I very well might have. Still, with a creative team led by director Brad Bird in place, one needn’t worry about such things, regardless of whether the great animator was making his live-action debut or not.
In many ways, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has always existed solely as a vanity project for star-producer Tom Cruise, and certainly, in 2000’s “M:i-2” (directed by John Woo in pure self-parody mode) and 2006’s “Mission: Impossible III” (directed by J.J. Abrams, who serves as a producer here), that was the case, as the action revolved less around a team effort than the exploits of Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Over the years, I’ve come to think that Brian de Palma’s 1996 original, which confounded on first viewing, was the best template for the series, as Ethan led a team in the uncovering of a mystery that was larger than any one person.
Fifteen years after de Palma’s film, which is one of the director’s best, Bird brings energy, excitement, and that team ethic back with a vengeance in “Ghost Protocol.” The film, like the others in this series, is still a touch too long (really, do these NEED to be two hours-plus?), but from the opening scenes of an IMF agent getting gunned down on assignment, and Ethan Hunt being broken out of a Russian prison, Bird has my attention, and I’d think he’ll have yours as well.
The plot (concocted by co-screenwriters Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec) is a complicated series of events that begin with those initial scenes described above, and leading Ethan and his team to a Russian physicist (Michael Nyqvist, from the original “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”) looking to incite nuclear war. However, when an explosion happens at the Kremlin, and Ethan is arrest for the bombing, IMF finds itself disavowed by the government, mean Ethan and his fellow agents– including the tech-centric Benji (Simon Pegg); the voluptuous, stealthy Carter (Paula Patton); and an analyst named Brandt (Jeremy Renner) who seems more skilled than a desk agent should be –are on their own in stopping this global threat.
For his first live-action film, Bird (a two-time Oscar winner for animated classics such as “The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles,” and “Ratatouille”) has made an action thriller of big ambition technically and narratively, and he hits a home run. For the larger action scenes, Bird and cinematographer Robert Elswitt (“There Will Be Blood”) use IMAX cameras to give the action remarkable scope, and all that one can really say is…wow. Especially when the team is trying to pull off a scheme in Dubai, and Ethan has to scale the outside of the largest building in the world, well, it’ll be best if those with vertigo head to the concession stand, because the dizzying effect Bird and Cruise (who did the stunt himself) achieve is exhilarating to watch, especially if you catch it in IMAX like I did. And Bird is a natural action director, whether it’s hand-to-hand combat, or a chase scene happening during a sandstorm, utilizing his collaborators (namely, editor Paul Hirsch and composer Michael Giacchino, with one of his best scores of the year) like the leader of a band who knows every beat and every transition of a song. The direction is effortless, and Bird gets great, entertaining performances from his cast, especially Cruise (in his best work since “Minority Report”) and Pegg. Yes, there’s a bit of the old same-old same-old for Ethan and co., but Cruise isn’t ready to set this franchise out to stud yet, and with Bird, he makes us want to see what the future could have in store for this team. My advice? Accept this “Mission.”
