Movie Review (1): Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
Reviewing Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner and directed by Brad Bird.
The fourth installment for the Mission Impossible franchise has moved up into the food chain and has given more depth to the film’s lead star Tom Cruise. This film is produced by JJ Abrams and is directed by Brad Bird who was known for directing films such as “Ratatouille” and “The Iron Giant”.
The film continues the story of IMF (Impossible Mission Forces) agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) who gets caught in a conspiracy that leads to the dissolution of the entire IMF and the death of the secretary (who always gets mentioned when missions are given). Oh and there’s also the threat of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia which has been pinned on Agent Hunt. Ethan must join forces with new team mates to clear their names, stop the bad guy and save the day.
Ghost Protocol was exceptional in the sense that it uses IMAX technology for some great scenes such as the opening scenes in Budapest as well as some chase scenes in Dubai where Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton takes on a mission to steal important information. I was actually having a bit of motion sickness when the camera looks down from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
There are several great moments in the movie that really makes this a very interesting movie. There are new gadgets that the team plays with within the movie and most importantly, it sticks to the great Hollywood tradition of sticking in Guns, girls and wheels. But it’s all good still.
Here are some of the things that I’ve noticed while watching Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
• Paula Patton is sexy but given her role in one part of the final act, it was kinda weird to see her wearing something sexy and seducing the target. Other than that, it was a-okay for her casting in the new film.
• Jeremy Renner’s role was downplayed a bit but that’s okay because he is in the movie together with Tom Cruise.
• I kept on insisting to Tons, Tim and my girlfriend that should they ever make a “Nightwing” movie, Tom Cruise should be given the role. This movie drives that point further.
• Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn is a fun character and it was kind of a good call to replace Vhing Rhames with a great actor like Simon Pegg. Also you should note that theres a budding bromance between Pegg and producer JJ Abrams as Pegg has also appeared in the re-imagining of “Star Trek”.
• The villain for the film, Michael Nyqvist had so much potential but was really left devoid of true motives. Every movie should have at least one scene where the main baddie reflects on a limited amount of minutes their reason for becoming what they are. Instead, we get fed that information through the use of footages of the Hendricks talking at a nuclear summit. After that, no more acting.
This is definitely a great way to close 2011 and it’s a must watch movie especially if you’re a big fan of the Mission Impossible franchise or if you just want a good action romp before the MMFF fever begins by Christmas time.
Special thanks to SOLAR UIP for the invites.
