Fourth Time's a Charm
This highly unexpected state of affairs involved me overcoming a gargantuan psychological hump. Actually, three:
1. The other three movies in the franchise weren't great -- the first and second especially.
2. A title with both a colon and an n-dash? That's just too much punctuation for a movie that cost $145 million to make.
3. Tom Cruise.
It's shocking that, contrary to longstanding cinematic wisdom, these movies actually are getting...better? The fourth one is, um, impossible not to like. (See what I did?) I'm not saying it isn't dumb, or that the dialogue is sparkling, or anything like that. But, for what it is -- a silly action movie -- you'd be hard pressed to do better. The special effects are mind-blowing and the cinematography made me want to set off immediately for a trip around the world.
Even that ridiculous-sounding phrase "Ghost Protocol" ends up making some kind of sense within the context of the movie.
As for Cruise, well. He's certainly done worse, and crazy people deserve to earn a living just like the rest of us. A fun drinking game: Take a shot every time you get a view of the shorty's two-inch heels. Spine-tingling action and sartorial hilarity!
There's no doubt that the action sequences are what will stick for most people. It's not an overstatement to say that this movie pretty much reinvented how on-screen action is shown. Instead of being gritty and jerky, the most exciting parts end up being moderately beautiful. How novel.
But for me, the best thing about this movie was the diversity of awesome locations: Budapest, Dubai, Moscow, Bangalore, San Francisco, Mumbai. Oh the places I'd go, if I had the Impossible Mission Force's seemingly unlimited funds.
The action starts in Budapest, where an IMF agent investigating a potential criminal mastermind code-named "Cobalt" is murdered by the assassin Sabine Moreau (Léa Seydoux). This pretty much verifies Cobalt's evil intentions and sets the story in motion. Ethan Hunt (Shorty Cruise) and his team members Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (none other than the adorable Simon Pegg) infiltrate the Kremlin to discover Cobalt's identity.
They are discovered, and -- get this -- the effing Kremlin gets blown to bits! Nobody could accuse Mission: Impossible –– Ghost Protcol of aiming low.
Obviously, this creates a bit of a diplomatic kerfuffle. The U.S. president has no choice but to activate the so-called "Ghost Protocol," which allows him to disavow the IMF.
The now-rogue team manages to ID Cobalt, who turns out to be a nuclear scientist who thinks he can initiate the next phase of human evolution via a nuclear holocaust. Dude obviously paid only spotty attention in biology class. Hunt, et al must succeed or else the entire earth is in danger of going the way of the Kremlin.
There's some other stuff involving Jeremy Renner (who played the sociopath in The Town so convincingly), hidden identities and Hunt's dead wife, but you get the gist: international intrigue, explosions, tick tick tick.
You'll have to watch for yourself to see if humankind is saved or not.
