I saw Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol at the Irvine Spectrum in true IMAX. The reason for this, was to see the prologue to The Dark Knight Rises. It’s quite the experience, mostly to showcase Tom Hardy as Bane. I won’t go too much in to it, but it involves two planes in flight and amazing use of the IMAX camera.
On to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, it’s about Tom Cruise in pretty much his only well to draw from these days. He again dons the guise of Ethan Hunt on an impossible mission. This time it directly follows MI:3, but now the team faces the threat of nuclear war, a premise long since defrosted. Throw in some great action, BMW cars, spy espionage, and Cruise’s trademark running, then add Brad Bird taking the director duties (live action) and you get a pleasant action movie.
The good; action, action, action. The action is very well executed. Modern action films should take a page from Ghost Protocol in that we can see things, there’s a sense of direction and coverage to avoid any confusion or nausea. In no way are any actions scenes shot in a way that leads you to believe that they are hiding the lack of physical dexterity of the actors on screen. I guess what I really like is that there are wide shoots, lovely lovely wide shots.
The story is placed in to the continuity of the film franchise, after the third one, but you can also jump directly in to Ghost Protocol with no problem. In addition, there’s a real sense of urgency and danger, I care for their mission and if they succeed or fail. That may seem like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how some movies miss this.
The hardware, they gave us what we expect, tons of gadgets. Especially in the skyscraper climbing scene, no words can describe it. From cameras in contacts, to the magnets, right down to the cars… it delivers what I want and expected.
The bad; Ethan Hunt seems a bit too smart. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it’s Tom Cruise’s character. Don’t get me wrong, he does get physically beat, but he always comes out of it glowing. The other team members do get their moments to shine though. Tom Cruise runs, and he runs well, there’s even a shot with what appears to be a specially built “run cam” that keeps up with his strides at a low angle.
Oh and they all have tailored suits, it’s ridiculously sickening and covetous at the same time, I don’t know whether to applaud or shake my fist.
Overall, definitely worth watching in the theatre. Good job Brad Bird on your first departure from the animated medium. I can’t say more without spoiling, but go see it for the action, stay for the espionage.
