Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

I love a good action film. When an action film is done well (for example Die Hard), it is a fantastic treat. The simple good vs bad story is still as effective as it ever was and there is nothing quite like seeing the good overcome the many obstacles to defeat the bad.

Throw in a little espionage, some high-tech gadgets and you have a recipe for success in my eyes. I remember really enjoying the first Mission Impossible although I don't remember the two sequels.

The film starts with an IMF agent being gunned down by assassin Sabine Moreau (Léa Seydoux). The slain agent was carrying nuclear codes wanted by Swedish nuclear strategist, Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) otherwise known as 'Colbolt'.

To get the codes back, the IMF extract Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) from a Moscow prison and he is recruited to lead fellow IMF agents Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) to try to get information on the identity of Colbolt.

In order to this, they must break into the Kremlin's archive rooms to obtain records on Colbolt, but another team has beaten them to the records and the mission is aborted. Consequently the Kremlin is blown up which leads to the IMF team being disbanded by the US President. 

The IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) gives the team an opportunity to re-group and act outside the Government instructions in order to track down Colbolt and the nuclear codes. An incident means that former IMF field agent, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) joins the team and this causes some disharmony during the mission.

The film goes on to follow the team as they try to get the codes back and ultimately prevent a nuclear war between Russia and the US.

As an action film, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is not a classic, but it is good fun and zips along nicely at a fair pace. Cruise plays the role well and some of the scenes (particularly in the Dubai section of the film) are spectacular, especially given Cruise's penchant for doing his own stunts.

There were a couple of things that seemed a little out of sorts. The relationship between Hunt and Carter was not quite established either as platonic or as romance. Like so many films, the potential romance story appears to have been shoe-horned in a little. 

The narrative didn't quite run smoothly, which was then covered up later in the film and some of the fight scenes went on far too long. There was also a detour to India which was completely unnecessary (although for obvious reasons, it will help the film be successful in India) and added very little to the film, except for showcasing possibly the best hair in show-business, courtesy of Anil Kapoor.

Pegg was brilliant in his role, with all of comedy moments coming from him (and I did chuckle more than the required 6 times to classify a film as a comedy).

Verdict: A fun action film although by no means a classic. Tom Cruise doing what he does best, chasing the bad guys while being able to deal with any number of gadgetry thrown at him. At best a good throwaway action film. You'll enjoy it, but you are unlikely to remember it.