Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Review: You Say “Dubai,” I Say “Hello”

The art of deception and misinformation can wield untold power. By revealing the truth, half-truths, and false truths, you can theoretically get away with just about anything. Any good drama ebbs and flows on its giving or receiving (or keeping) of information regardless of genre. Take, for instance, the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in which the Secretary of the IMF (Tom Wilkinson) is killed. That’s a pretty big goddamn deal and what appears to be a massive spoiler. As it happens, that is merely the tip of the iceberg that is Ghost Protocol, a delightfully twisty, turny, and thrill-packed entry in the continuous cycle of the Mission: Impossible oeuvre.

Much time has passed since Ethan Hunt’s last spy game and the years have not treated him well, as we find him neck-deep in a Russian gulag for reasons unknown. But never fear – the IMF is here. Specifically Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton) who are breaking out Ethan because they need his mad skills since, as Hunt puts it, “if they didn’t want me in there, then things must be pretty bad out here.” And bad they are. Benji and Jane’s previous op was compromised when a third party interfered with a file retrieval, but this isn’t just any file; these are nuclear launch codes. Ethan’s intel suggests a person only known as “Cobalt” as the culprit and their new mission is to break into the Kremlin and retrieve confidential files that identify and trace the whereabouts of Cobalt. When this op goes awry it is quite clear that something is rotten in Denmark. After the events at the Kremlin, the entire IMF is disavowed and the IMF Secretary hands off a new mission to Hunt, one that requires him to take down Cobalt at any cost. After the Secretary’s untimely demise, Ethan’s team is joined by Brandt (Jeremy Renner), whose analyst position doesn’t exactly make him Field Operative material; however, there is much more to Brandt than has been revealed that directly impacts Ethan in ways he could never see coming. This catch-as-catch-can team-up exemplifies the main hook of Ghost Protocol; with no IMF to back up Ethan and his team, the four are literally on their own. If a plan does not execute to the letter, they must improvise. If a gadget fails, they must roll with it. It’s this pace of desperately trying to keep up with Cobalt that propels the film’s plot in new and creative ways.

The movie is not without its share of plot holes, most glaringly a tantalizing clue about Cobalt’s past that is literally dropped at the feet of Ethan at the close of the Dubai set piece that never, ever comes up again. Equally glaring is the film’s logic, the flaws of which always tend to stick out more often in spy movies than any other genre simply because of the very nature of the story. Take for instance a clandestine meeting in Dubai which hinges on the bad guys having not seen who they are supposed to be meeting when they instead meet the IMF team sans disguises; it’s implausible to think that these skilled baddies can’t do some simple cloak-and-dagger searching and produce photos of the people our intrepid team is posing as and yet we have to take this at face value. There is also a post-script cameo that is basically pointless and would have made the Ethan/Brandt arc much more intriguing had it not been there, but it ends up being a small quibble. However, when propped up by some crazy set pieces, it all really doesn’t matter. Because this is, after all, a roller coaster ride, pure and simple. So let it be.

Where J.J. Abrams injected M:I-III with some much-needed Wake-Up Juice, so does director Brad Bird in this entry, but he ups the ante in many ways. Where the last two Missions were in many ways reliant on well-staged gun fights, Bird takes a happy left hand turn and morphs Ghost Protocol’s set pieces into awe-filled, death defying stunts rather than spraying a room with assault rifle fire. The Dubai sequence is the centerpiece of the film and is a perfect example of what the action aims to be in this go-around. Bird’s wild creativity that helped his animated films break out of their molds is also aglow in this, his first live action vehicle. Take the gulag sequence, which ends up feeling like a song and dance number that would be right at home in any musical, except this choreography involves beating the shit out of everyone. Other new additions to the franchise include Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner, who are both fine replacements for the old IMF field team, but lack the uniqueness of someone like Simon Pegg, who is so counter to what has come to be expected in a movie like this. Cruise is infectiously watchable and if you can disregard his lifestyle choices, is as good as ever in a role that he has single-handedly made his own.

All told, Ghost Protocol is the best Mission: Impossible movie to date, raising the quality bar of M:I-III while keeping what everyone knows and loves of the series. The film was intended to be a rebranding and reboot of the series and it basically accomplishes these things without throwing the baby out with the bathwater *cough-Spider-Man-cough*. With the careful guidance of Tom Cruise, the Mission: Impossible series is shaping up to be just as enduring as Bond. Maybe we can get Suri to take the reins in Mission: Impossible 14.

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures and IMDbPro