See Tom Run.
The plot of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is
ludicrous. There is this rogue Russian ex-general who has gone insane. We see
about a 30 second newsreel footage of him giving a speech in parliament about
the necessary weeding out a thermonuclear war would play in furthering the
course of human evolution. Given that logic he has been attempting to steal nuclear
launch codes and to start a full out war between Russia and the United States. To this end he succeeds in framing special agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF for the bombing of the Kremlin in Moscow. The crazy man, played by Michael Nyqvist, spends most of his time running
away from Tom Cruise who is running away from the Russian police. He is an undeveloped bad guy that
functions less as a real person and more as a MacGuffin which enables the plot
to go from high stakes scenario to high stakes scenario. Halfway through the movie I stopped caring. What
became obvious to me halfway through the movie was that I was watching some of the
best and well-made action sequences since “The Bourne Ultimatum.” I’m not even
sure I wanted the guy to get caught because that would have ended the movie,
which was ceaselessly thrilling. A critic may rationalize any viewpoint but cannot ignore involuntary bodily
functions. For example, all laughter during a comedy no matter how low or stupid the jokes are must be admitted. In this movie,
I can report that my stomach churned several times in the same way it would if
I were on a roller coaster at Magic Mountain. This is a great action movie and worth watching just for the thrills. Do
not wait to see it on video. See it in a theater and try to see it in IMAX.
It makes sense that the director of “Mission:
Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” does not have any previous action movies under
his belt. In fact he doesn’t have any live action movies under his belt. Instead the
director Brad Bird is an alumnus from Pixar. He directed such animated movies like “The Incredibles” and
“Ratatouille.” This becomes obvious because unlike so many action movie directors, he has put in the effort to competently storyboard, shoot, and edit his action
sequences. Everything is super clear, the laws of physics are obeyed, and the action proceeds logically but not predictably. I
hope that this movie makes a lot of money and inspires other action movie directors to try a bit harder at their craft. Or at least let it be shaming. They've been one-upped grandly by a cartoonist.
The coup de grace sequence in this movie
involves Tom Cruise (as special agent Ethan Hunt) scaling the side of the Burj
Dubai (the tallest building in the world) with these special gloves that may or
may not functionally work. I don’t know how they did it safely but what is on the screen is seriously freaky
stuff. That of course, is only part of a movie that includes several car chases (one in a dust-storm), fistfights,
and suspenseful spy stings replete with some seriously cool gadgetry and large
explosions. All of this is done exceptionally well.
In fact, it is shot in such a way, that it is
obvious that the stars are doing actual stunts. For instance, Tom Cruise is clearly racking up some serious mileage running as fast as he can in plenty of scenes. And there he is doing the actual fight choreography in several fistfights. You can
tell because the camera shots are far away enough and have long enough duration
to tell. As far as the stunts on the Burj Dubai are concerned, well the
producers made sure there were several featurettes online showing Tom Cruise on
the outside of the building to quell any suspicions that it was some stuntman
doing it or that it was shot in a green room and the outside added later. He
really is there. I consider this as counting toward some top-notch acting. What's more is that Cruise and the other characters actually look scared, surprised, or concerned for their lives when really crazy shit starts to happen. I have seen too many movies where nobody seems to notice large explosions or machine gun fire. I find it far more effective (and dramatically correct) when characters notice just how dangerous something is. Case in point: Tom Cruise's face when he drives his car off a platform with a hundred 100 meter drop. Give that guy an Oscar Nomination. That's exactly the facial expression he should have.
The IMF team works very well both as an action ensemble
and in another degree as a comedy team. Tom Cruise gets the plum action jobs
but that doesn’t mean that Jeremy Renner (from “The Hurt Locker”) doesn’t have
some good scenes as well (a particularly good one involves him infiltrating a
super computer by jumping into an oven hoping that some magnets work (it makes
sense in the movie)). Paula Patton for her part lands the starring role in the movie's best
fistfight with a lady baddie played by Ley Seydoux. Rounding out the group is
Simon Pegg providing computer tech savvy and his usual humorous self. Most of
the situations are so tightly wound that the comedy pitches thrown to Pegg are routinely knocked out of the park like softballed lobs. One of the best moments in
the movie has Pegg walking into a room and saying, “That was not easy, but I
did it.” This gets a huge laugh. That sort of reaction can only be accomplished
by having one of the most death-defying stunts in the movie happen right before
that. Pegg's humor cashes in on the suspense consistently. I would go so far as to say that this is the best Mission: Impossible movie that has been made. I'm glad they made it.
One thing that is noticeably absent in this
particular installment of “Mission Impossible” is any hint of sex. In this, it
follows the trend in American action movies in particular. There once was a
time when James Bond had a pretty swinging lifestyle. You can’t say that about
the Daniel Craig incarnation. And when did Jason Bourne have any time for that
sort of thing. In this movie, Tom Cruise gets as close as a longing glance from
several blocks away. Just saying.
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