Mission Impossible, the television show, was a mixed success. Remembered mostly for hallmarks like the self-destructing mission-assignment machine, slide shows of the bad guys and its true secret weapon, the snappy, danger-infused theme music, the plots could be boring and the characters cardboard. At its best, though, it was The Wire of spy shows, relying on deliberate tension-building rather than action and humor. The belated leap to the big screen may have been a cynical, well-aimed attempt to cash in on a distinctive franchise, but it wasn’t an easy target. The cerebral elements could not be jettisoned; yet generous doses of action had to be added, of course, simply to justify the expansion—in more ways than one—of a small-screen classic. Mission Impossible isn’t James Bond, but it had to bring a little 007 into the mix—that was unavoidable. There is also some rub-off from the Bourne movies.
In the megaphone-holding hands of directors Brian DePalma, John Woo and J.J. Abrams, the first three films achieved moderate-to-good artistic success and anything-but-self-destructive commercial prosperity. At some point, the personal (and quite public) exploits of Tom Cruise seemed to overshadow the suspension of disbelief required to enjoy his acting; and this somehow tainted the last couple of Mission Impossibles. (Hollywood is a risky business.) But with the first glimpse of his famous profile in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, Cruise emerges likeable all over again. He’s buffed-up and believable. And from that moment on, the sempiternal fuse of the movie’s plot remains lit and in motion. Particularly impressive—and one of the most suspenseful, even harrowing, scenes in recent-movie memory—is Cruise’s stunt on the outside of a cloud-reaching skyscraper.
Director Brad Bird formerly did only animation, so it’s unsurprising that he brings to MI:4 some clichés that don’t necessarily translate to live action. These include Cruise’s (and other characters’) indestructibility—the unlikely acts of survival are the equivalent of Tom and Jerry being steamrolled and showing up in the next shot wearing band-aids. This Tom gets shot at, thrown off of moving vehicles, crashes a car to the ground vertically and gets constantly beat up (but gives better than he gets), apparently without breaking a bone—and barely a sweat. Even his perfectly tailored clothes emerge from these physical altercations resalable. Oscar-nominee Jeremy Renner excels—even in two dully written monologues that seem to be included to make use of his acting prowess. He nicely offsets the rather modest talent of the stunning Paula Patton and Cruise’s straight-forward, (appropriately so) one-dimensional performance. Also refreshing is the lack of blatant CGI (CGI is not meant to be noticed). And though it’s actually the strongest of the series so far, Ghost Protocol is far from perfect. It’s a bit overlong, the great Michael Niqvist is suspiciously underused, and the epilogue is confusing for those who haven’t seen the earlier films—and probably even for some who have. Still, MI: 4 is the perfect summer movie, despite the stubborn fact that it’s arriving at Christmastime. Perhaps they could have included a sleigh chase; but at least your nerves will be jingled and jangled. This review will self-destruct in five seconds.
