Most franchises find themselves stagnating and directionless by a fourth installment but surprisingly and against all expectations the fourth entry in the Mission Impossible series acts like an adrenaline shot straight to the heart for this franchise.With inventive and thrilling death defying action set-pieces that excite on a visceral level mixed with some of the most legitimately funny scenes this side of a comedy and the end result is the best action film of the year bar-none.
The film is directed by Brad Bird this time around, a director known for his much beloved animated films such as The Iron Giant and The Incredible's. There were many eyes on Bird to see if he could capture live-action performances as well as he could in the animated realm and unsurprisingly he knocks it out of the park. Bird directs Ghost Protocol like his life depends on it, as if his entire career lays in the hands of this films success. Bird stages action scenes better than any director who has had 20 action films under his belt. Bird keeps the action in camera making it easy to follow and infinitely more exciting to watch unfold. The movie contains some of the most inventive and down-right brilliant set-pieces of the past 10 years of action films, I hesitate to even describe them, in that I might risk ruining their effect. Suffice to say a jaw-dropping vertical action scene set along the side of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is a real standout.
The entire cast in this film is pitch perfect, Tom Cruise is ... Tom Cruise but he is likable and seems like he is having fun. Interestingly Bird decides to trade some Cruise brooding scenes for comic relief from Simon Pegg's character as well as some intrigue with the newly introduced Jeremey Renner as a mysterious IMF analyst. Paula Patton who is the quintessential sex appeal, is given a few emotional hooks as well as some pretty kick-ass fight scenes. Everyone on the team has their strengths and them working together is the best part of the film, the teamwork aspect is handled incredibly well given that this could have been a simple Tom Cruise starring vehicle with some interesting supporting characters. Instead there is some great chemistry between all the actors and as you can see from the video above, it makes the proceedings feel fun and light even if the stakes are incredibly high.
There are several "missions" in this movie and all of them could have been the grand finale in any other film, a prison break sequence set to Dean Martin's "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" is a fun and creative choice that accentuates the generally light and fun tone the film strives for. Even a chase scene amidst a sandstorm is brilliantly staged and surprisingly easy to follow. While most people wont appreciate how well the action is filmed, I urge you to make direct comparisons to the shaky-cam mentality of the Bourne films or even the recent Bond films were fast cuts and speedy movements are substituted for real discernible heavy hitting action, something Ghost Protocol has in abundance. Every punch, kick, or failed jump looks and feels brutal which adds to the stakes of the action as well as the general kick-assedness.
(5 out of 5)
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