The greatest thing that Tom Cruise (as a producer) chose to do when shepherding the Mission Impossible film franchise was to select a director with a signature vision to helm each movie. This would mean that unlike the Bond franchise, each film would feel fresh and have the added bonus of each film being bloody good (sorry Mr Bond but having John Glen direct Octopussy, A View To A Kill and Licence To Kill is neither fresh or good). This has meant that every time a new Mission Impossible movie opens, opinion is general split between those that think it's 'OK', and those that think it's the best thing since sliced bread. This has caused some much heated debates in pubs and bars around the world as movie fans bicker and squabble over Brian DePalma's Hitcockian cold-war stylings, the mythic escapism of John Woo's sequel or the family/office dynamic of JJ Abrams third entry. All are extremely entertaining and there are valid opinions, for and against, for each individual movie.
Five and a half years after number III, Cruise is back as super spy Ethan Hunt for a new adventure, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, this time directed by animation maestro Brad (The Incredibles) Bird.
Bird proves to be a great choice. His visual film language isn't as distinctive as Woo, DePalma or Abrams (although it does have a pleasingly clean, bright, hi-tech sheen) but tonally MI4 is bang on the money delivering the lightest and most 'fun' film of the franchise to date. The plot is on a much larger, Bondian, world domination scale, the character interactions of the team are much more down to earth and jokey, and more humour is injected into each of the capers the team embark on throughout. In fact this is the nearest this franchise has ventured into Bond territory so far.
The set-pieces are nicely varied from foot chases, slow suspense filled break-ins, chaotic break-outs, dizzying skyscraper high acrobatics, deceptions using seduction, deceptions using photocopiers, car chases in dust storms, exploding national monuments, cruise missiles, and so on. They are all beautifully handled, mixing suspense, humour, exposition, character beats with an old fashioned, steady editing style which kicks the arse out of 99% of action movie editing today. It also helps that the team are using faulty, second hand equipment which ups the tension and the jokes dramtically.
If the film has a fault, or two, it's in the script department. As with MI3, the story was shaped by JJ Abrams (here serving as a producer), and the plotting is just as flabby as it was with Abrams third movie. You just get the impression the whole thing could have been tightened up by 20 minutes or so with some scenes being merged with others to streamline the flow of the narrative. The other issue is that it feels like Cruise's Ethan Hunt feels like a less central character this time round.
That's probably to do with the need to introduce and place Jeremy Renner's analyst Brandt in a prominent position in the event that his character takes over from Cruise's. While each of the four members of the team all have personal issues to deal with making this more of an ensemble piece, this never has the same dramatic weight that was placed on Cruise's shoulders alone in the previous three films. Because of this MI4 feels lighter and less intense in the character department.
There are plenty of things it does get spot on. With Cruise less in the limelight, he's given a much more enigmatic and mysterious role that can be equated to that of a Western hero. After a cool introduction shot, it's revealed that Etan Hunt has been out of civilization for some time (jailed actually), has had to shun much of his private life in order to accomplish his job and finally disappears once more at the finale...giving him that classic, slightly tragic, gunslinger vibe.
The rest of the team are very impressive. Pegg is pure gold here as the comic relief of the team, the gorgeous Paula Patton should be the next female action star based on what she does here, and Jeremy Renner stops brooding for once to display charisma and a deft talent for comic timing that previous roles have not exploited.
I'm now convinced; this lad is a leading man.
A very, very entertaining and fun ride that's far better than Abrams third film from 2006. But, for me both Woo's sequel and DePalma's untouchable first film are still the top dogs in this franchise. That may be disappointing in some ways, but to get to a forth film and still be excellent takes some doing.
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