Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise shows again why he is still one of the best action stars in Hollywood. Love him or hate him for his personal life, he absolutely shines as Ethan Hunt, point man for the IMF. At 49 years old, he has the body and spirit of someone half his age. He loves to take his shirt off, and loves to do that goofy looking, intense run that seems to happen in all of his movies. However, he owns action at this point. Doing his own stunts including a walk outside the world's highest tower in Dubai, the 2,700 foot tall Burj Khalifa is just another day for Cruise.

In the fourth installment of the MI franchise, Brad Bird takes over the camera from veterans Brian De Palma, John Woo, and most recently, JJ Abrahms. Abrahms tagged along as an executive producer on this film, but Brad Bird is dipping his toes into live action films for the first time, having worked with Pixar on films such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille. He hits it out of the park on this one, and will be working behind the camera for as long as he wants from here on out.

The story is as irrelevant as any of the other MI films, but the gadgets, action sequences, and secret agent infiltration scenes create a palpable tension as the clock keeps ticking down and sweat beads form as their discovery is constantly imminent. There's something about a rogue mercenary trying to set off a nuclear device, and a renewed cold war. It really doesn't matter though. When you see a film like this, you want to be wowed, and the unbelievable scenarios that come up are slightly realistic, but completely extravagant at the same time. It's pure cinematic bliss.

Ethan Hunt's team is brilliantly assembled, with Simon Pegg as the comic relief (an not overly done), Paula Patton as the sizzling female agent with a vendetta, and Jeremy Renner as the mysterious analyst with a secret. There is a nice balanced performance by all, but the spotlight shines on Hunt. Each supporting cast member plays his or her part nicely, and they all exhibit particular strengths that complement each other.

There is speculation that Renner is readying up to take over the franchise, but I don't buy that. He's taking over as a new character in a spinoff to the Jason Bourne franchise starting this upcoming summer, and I see Cruise coming back at least once more as Agent Hunt. He seems to relish the action, and let's be honest, with the reviews it's getting and the box office draw, Cruise and Abrams would be stupid not to shoot another one. Bird would obviously be the ideal director.

There are so many action scenes packed into this, that they had to do a little montage beforehand to explain the entire plot of the film. What works is that there were probably six or seven different scenes that happen in rapid succession, just non-stop from start to finish. The end of the film is a bit unbelievable (come on, can you hold it against them?) and compared with the action in the first half, the second half doesn't quite live up to the expectation, but these are petty complaints.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to see MI: Ghost Protocol before its run in IMAX is over. It's the best action film of the year, which makes me scratch my head why it was released Christmas and not 4th of July. Either way, well worth the trip to the theatre. 10/10.