Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movie Review

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Rent Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol on Amazon Video (paid link) // Rent the TV Series 1966-1973 (paid link)
Written by: Bruce Geller (television series "Mission: Impossible"), Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec (written by)
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor, Léa Seydoux, Josh Holloway
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Verdict
This is a solid action movie and a great Mission: Impossible movie. This reinforces the formula of over the top action sequences linked by avoiding a complex story. With a formidable team behind him and plenty of fancy toys this one is a lot of fun. It manages to get it right, with the previous movies feeling like a rough draft for his one.
Watch It.

Review
The fourth movie is certainly a solid Mission: Impossible film, only rivaled by the sixth franchise entry Fallout.

This starts with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in a Russian prison. A huge prison fight gives Hunt an avenue to show off. Then it's right into the next mission, infiltrating the Kremlin. The toys Hunt's organization the IMF have are always impressive, and the Kremlin scenes manages to make an action scene that's nearly silent yet still exciting because of the technology.

Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise play Benji Dunn and Ethan Hunt

Every time something bad happens the IMF is the suspect. It seems like every movie Hunt and crew are on the outs, left to fend for themselves without support. It provides an underdog sensibility, but at some point you'd think everyone would just trust the IMF.

This movie really gets the Mission: Impossible formula. Focus on action first with insane stunts, put together a fun team second, and then throw in some fancy electronics. Action scenes are what this franchise is, and this one finally gets it right. One of the best team scenes has them faking two meeting simultaneously, using all of their toys to pull it off. Of course that was preceded by a crazy Tom Cruise stunt where he free climbs a sky scraper. The scene will nearly turn your stomach. That's the M:I way. This one manages to balance the death defying stunts with more subtle, yet still thrilling missions. The problem with the previous movies was trying to do too much with the story.

Paula Patton and Tom Cruise play Jane Carter and Ethan Hunt

Hunt's team has Benji (Simon Pegg) back again, adding plenty of welcome comic relief. The funniest sequence, albeit unintentionally, is Hunt drawing a sketch of a man on his palm in five seconds.The team also adds Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Jane (Paula Patton). I really hoped they might reappear, but so far this is their only movie appearance. I wondered how the franchise would resolve Hunt's wife from the last movie. She gets more than a passing mention which was more than I expected.

This movie manages to dial in the fun factor. The mission balance is easily the best when compared against the previous movies. This one also has the best team. This movie is a culmination of the previous movies, focusing on what was good and excising what didn't work.

 My ranking for the franchise would be Fallout, Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, I, III, II.