Brad Bird – Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog

Wow. Just one film for a change. With luck we’ll catch a couple more with the kids at the weekend. Gillian can’t stand Tom Cruise (something to do with him being a) a jumped-up little **** and b) a scientologist, apparently) so I went by myself for this one.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

“I have arrived at the party!”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Someone is trying to blow up the world, Tom Cruise and a couple of friends have to stop them

See it if you like: The last three films

This is the first time Brad Bird has directed a live action film – his previous record includes the excellent The IncrediblesÂ and Ratatouille. It seems like quite a departure, but one that works. Ghost ProtocolÂ isn’t the “biggest” of the MI films to date as far as the scale of the action sequences goes, but it’s probably got the best – and most Bond-esque – plot.

Cruise, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg reprise their roles from the previous film with Ving Rhames popping up for about three minutes (for which he reportedly earned twice what he did for his supporting part in M:I3). It’s a quote from Pegg’s character Benji that I’ve used above. Truly, Pegg has arrived at the party with this film. From obscure Channel 4 comedy to fully fledged supporting role in one of the most profitable current franchises alongside one of the world’s most bankable stars. Well done, sir.

There’s a nice dollop of humour in the film, most of which revolves around Benji, while the action is – as ever – focussed around Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Jeremy Renner joins the cast as Brandt, a senior analyst and apparently a character who could be fleshed out should Cruise ever decide to leave the franchise. Token kick-ass female falls to Patton’s Jane.

As I said, the plot’s rather Bond-like with it’s twisted, psychotic villain and threat of global thermonuclear devastation. A terrorist named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) has developed the somewhat bonkers theory that the earth undergoes some sort of “cleansing” every few hundred thousand years. Meteors, ice ages and so forth have helped this go ahead in the past. This time, though, we’re in need of a kick-start. So he’s after some nuclear launch codes to trigger global devastation and a fresh start.

Bonkers.

After things go wrong for our small band of troops at the start of the story, they are officially disavowed by their government and forced to operate completely along – under the Ghost Protocol of the title. This leads to a new set of challenges as they only have access to the kit they can scavenge – there is no longer an IMF for them to be a part of.

The set pieces are good and the characters varied enough yet well gelled. If two characters are a little similar, it’s Hunt and Brandt for the reasons mentioned above. The bad guys are suitably cold, there are plenty of close-up combat scenes and the glamour is in full evidence with huge buildings, flash concept cars and the like being fully utilised.

Sure, you have to suspend your belief a bit (not least of all as to how them manage to make Cruise appear of regular height during the entire film), but it’s well worth it. Unlike Fast FiveÂ which just made itself bigger and more silly to up the ante for it’s latest instalment, M:I-GP has gone more for plot. The explosions are more “ouch, that must have hurt” than “wow, what else is there left in the world to blow up?” making for a more enjoyable film overall.

The best thing about it is that it’s notÂ just more of the same. A good balance, a good cast and a good film as a result.