Is any mission impossible for Ethan Hunt? It doesn't look like it...
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back again, but unfortunately he’s in a Russian prison. Thanks to some good mates though, Ethan manages to break out. Thank goodness, because a nasty terrorist named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) is trying to engineer a nuclear war between Russia and USA. Ethan assembles a team to carry out project ‘Ghost Protocol’, their mission – to save the world. So who’s in the team? We’ve got Benji (Simon Pegg) as the geeky technician, very witty throughout. (It does frustrate me how British actors are never cool or suave in American films. Simon Pegg is not cool, but did he have to be dressed up in such humiliating outfits?) Next up is Jane (Paula Patton) as the attractive side-kick, and last but not least is Brandt (Jeremy Renner) as the cynical analyst who can also ‘kick some butt’. Their adventures take them from Dubai to India and beyond. Can they save the day? It seems impossible…
Four things annoyed me about this film:
1. Copious amounts of product placement – Apple, Dell, BMW – being thrust into my face
2. Unnecessary smutty scenes, for example Paula Patton getting undressed in the car. Why am I complaining? It’s a family film, no need for it.
3. What was the camel scene about? For those who haven’t witnessed MI4, the team are driving through the Dubai desert discussing the mission, and then randomly nearly drive into a bunch of camels. Care to explain anyone?
4. Face masks being ripped off. It means I can never trust who is on screen, I’m always expecting a face mask to be ripped off. Is that Tom Cruise? Or is it in fact an alien with a Tom Cruise-mask on? I thought they would have learnt from Mission Impossible 2…
The team does seem to find itself in the most ridiculous elaborate scenarios, but that’s all part of the fun. ‘Just go with it’ I hear Tom Cruise saying, but every so often logic does quash my fun. ‘Shut up brain! I’m having a good time!’, I say. In all honesty, I didn’t have time to think with the many explosions and the like. It was an exhausting 133 minutes, with little to no time to rest. The dialogue was nothing to be admired, apart from a few outbursts of comedy from Simon Pegg. Despite my qualms with the film, I still found myself gripped by the story. I was on the edge when Ethan began climbing the Burj Khalifa tower (the tallest building in the world). The end scene is tremendously corny and also a little creepy with Ethan staring at his wife from behind a wooden pole. But yes, I enjoyed myself.
Finally, is Tom Cruise the biggest Christopher Nolan fan ever? The opening scene felt very similar to the Dark Knight, and the action scenes, where each character is doing something simultaneously, seemed very Inception-like.