Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Review
Rating 8/10 (If I could give it seven and a half I would, but that just feels wrong)
Mission Impossible has returned again, and this time it has gone further, by not only changing its attitude, but changing the cast, the way it’s filmed, and the overall impact. It really does feel that they have gone one step further with this film, and maybe a few steps higher.
Obviously its Tom Cruise back to portray Ethan Hunt, literally ‘saving the world’ from the villain Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) a Swedish nuclear scientist, though you’d be lucky to remember his name throughout the film, who is convinced that a global nuclear apocalypse is the only way human kind can advance.
Director Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) has really excelled himself, he was given a large enough budget ($145,000,000) to basically do whatever he wanted, making the experience of seeing it on the big screen even more intense. With an also brilliant cast including Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), who eagle eye viewers would have spotted in Mission Impossible 3, returning as computer boffin Benji, and Paula Patton (déjà vu, Hitch) who plays the resourceful female spy, Jane Carter.
As the madness of the violent pre-credit sequence ends, you already realize this could get complicated. With not much time to focus on character development before you’re ambushed it is difficult to get to know the new characters, but that would be the only downfall of the film. For the rest you are too amazed to care, with brilliant camera angles, landscapes, and state-of-the-art equipment you can’t help but just stare at the screen. The two most notable sequences would be first, an amazing explosion blowing up and scattering half of the Kremlin, which looks unbelievably real, and the second sees Ethan Hunt clung on the to the side of the 130th floor of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. The only thing stopping him from falling being a pair of sticky gloves.
One of the few criticisms i would have would be, like the first Mission Impossible, you need to keep focused to understand what’s going on, it’s very easy to get absorbed by everything but not realize who exactly that was, or why he was chasing her, etc. It can easily get confusing as to which sides the cast members are on!
In conclusion the film is brilliant, a good mix of action to main plot, to underlying storyline, keeping you on the edge of your seat at the same time as thinking carefully about what is going on. Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack keeps the original theme as good as ever, but also without it the movie would just not be the same. Having seen it on an IMAX screen it was awesome, but I still felt it didn’t have the same magic as when a projectionist shows it on 35mm, but all the same I would urge anyone who hasn’t yet seen it to see it on the big screen, and if you miss it, I’m sure Union Films will be showing it in their summer season, definitely a must see film!
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