The Mission Impossible movie franchise is 27 years old this year, and before Dead Reckoning Part One arrives, I’m having a brief retrospective of the series. Warning: Spoilers.
The Director
The director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, Brad Bird is best known for his work in animation for Disney and Pixar and on many series on TV. He has since made the unfairly criticised Tomorrowland and the brilliant sequel The Incredibles 2.
Closest to Bond
Mad scientist Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) wants to start a nuclear war and the IMF must stop him.
Very Bondian, indeed this movie is possibly closest to that other spy colossus – the action packed-pre-title sequence, theme tune, the globe-trotting, the gadgets, the gun play, cars and eye-popping action. It is worth noting the very brief appearance of Andreas Wisniewski (villain Necros from The Living Daylights) as an arms dealer’s bodyguard, following his previous appearance as a guard for Max in the first Mission Impossible.
Twists
The film has a great story, starting with Hunt in a Russian prison for murky reasons, and he seems to be keeping secrets from the team. New team member Paula Patton is great as Agent Carter and her fight with assassin Léa Seydoux (Spectre, No Time To Die) is a bruising struggle.
We later learn from Brandt (Jeremy Renner) that Hunt’s wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan from MI:3) has been killed, an audacious and shocking twist. After the attack on The Kremlin, the president has initiated “Ghost Protocol” where ALL the IMF agents across the world are disavowed, truly leaving the team on their own.
The script also has some genuine laughs, usually delivered by Renner at his most sardonic.
That “Mission Impossible” Moment
The entire Burj Khalifa sequence is stunning. The con where the team split and play both sides of an arms deal simultaneously in two identical rooms is wonderful. The crowning achievement is the sequence where Hunt must scale up the outside of the Burj Khalifa using malfunctioning gloves which “bond” to the windows.
Watch the behind-the-scenes documentary to see how crazy those stunts were. And yes, that is Tom Cruise doing those stunts. Everything about the sequence is nerve-jangling.
Tom Cruise Running Scene
The foot chase as Hunt runs from the Burj Khalifa, chasing the goon right into a sandstorm.
Don’t Forget
The opening pursuit (and brief flashback) with Josh Holloway as doomed agent Hanaway, the jail escape, and the sudden attack on the IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) in his car. It is also good to see Anil Kapoor having great fun as Mumbai playboy Brij Naath.
Honourable Mention
The outrageously silly but brilliant scene in the Kremlin corridor with Hunt and the now field-trained Benji (Simon Pegg) distracting the guard with a water dropping sound effect, and silently pushing a huge projection screen down the corridor to access a secure room. A fun spin on the silent Pentagon heist from the first movie.
Fuse Rating = 5 out of 5
This is a genuinely thrilling movie, with brilliant action and suspense, heightened with Giacchino’s exciting and urgent score which for me contains nods to James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith. Brad Bird’s The Incredibles worked well as a spy caper, and his handling of the many set pieces in his first live action IMAX feature film is exceptional.
Some have complained that the finale is disappointing as it involves Hunt beating up a guy in his fifties in a car park – which is funny for at the time of the movie’s release, Cruise was 49 and Nyqvist was 50 – but who had ever seen a fight in a multi-storey automated car garage with moving gantries, and a final 100 metre plummet inside a car?
By the end, Julia is revealed to be alive but in protection in a very touching moment, Brandt joins the team, and Ving Rhames makes a tiny appearance. Hunt’s next mission is teased with news about “The Syndicate”.
Ghost Protocol seamlessly blends the spy and action elements with outrageous stunts, great cinematography, and a keen sense of humour. It is huge, satisfying fun.
Next Time
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation – with shadowy villains, an operatic score, and a stunning antagonist.
| Producer J.J. Abrams, Brian Burk, Tom Cruise Director Brad Bird Screenplay Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec Cinematographer Robert Elswit Editor Paul Hirsch Music Michael Giacchino US premiere December 2011 | Tom Cruise Ethan Hunt Paula Patton Jane Simon Pegg Benji Jeremy Renner Brandt Michael Nyqvist Hendricks Anil Kapoor Brij Nath Léa Seydoux Sabine Moreau Josh Holloway Hanaway Ving Rhames Luther Michelle Monaghan Julia Tom Wilkinson IMF Secretary |
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