Mission: Impossible - Protocollo fantasma

I attended a VIP screening of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol last night at the Darling Harbor IMAX Theater in Sydney, Australia. Before the movie started, there was an introduction by Director Brad Bird, and by actor Simon Pegg where they shared how much they enjoyed making the film and shooting scenes in the IMAX format.

I won't get into the story too much as I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but the basic plot is that the Kremlin in Russia is bombed by a terrorist group and IMF is framed for it. Because of these actions, the president decides to activate Operation Ghost Protocol, which essentially means that the entire IMF organisation is disavowed, meaning Ethan and his team are on their own, and like the tagline says "No Plan, No Backup, No Choice".

The story I found to be quite solid. Nothing groundbreaking but enough to keep the interest of your average movie-goer.

The performances were generally good all around. Simon Pegg was enjoyable as Benji and Tom Cruise is always great as Ethan Hunt. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton also gave some great performances.

The action sequences are where the film really shines. Not all scenes were great, I thought the bombing of the Kremlin used some very fake looking CGI which made it more humorous then intense. Also, some scenes seemed a little too far-fetched and made me think that Tom Cruise must be made of steel or something. But if you try not to look into this too much, then chances are you will enjoy the action. The fight scenes were done very well, incredibly brutal and realistic looking. The sound for this film really helped as you could almost feel every punch and kick as well as the explosions. The greatest scene for me was Ethan climbing the hotel in Dubai, the worlds most tallest building. Shot in IMAX as well, I almost felt like I was right there next to Ethan looking down from above. Huge credit goes to Tom Cruise for performing this stunt himself!

Overall, I found the film very enjoyable. I enjoyed it a lot more than the 2nd and 3rd entries, but the 1st has always been the best one for me. I would have given this a perfect 10 but it loses 2 points for the some of the action scenes being a bit silly and unrealistic.

The first one was well made, but got boring. The second tried too hard to be cool. The third one was great, but the style was too jarring. The fourth one said: "screw it, let's just have some fun" and everyone else followed its lead.

Ghost Protocol might be the most rewatchable movie in the franchise (it's certainly the one I've rewatched the most). Its creative set piece, amazing stunts, likeable team, fast pace and perfect runtime make for an endlessly rewarding viewing experience.

It's a bit dissapointing that Luther only got a cameo at the end, but making Benji a field agent was one of the best desicions made in the series. The villain is the most boring in the franchise, but this is arguably the first MI movie to really focus on the whole main team and not just Ethan Hunt and I love it for that.

With its first three entries, the franchise was clearly trying to find its identity. Here, they finally found it, and I love it.

The first half of the movie is probably the best action movie of the last 20 years. It is intense, well shot, engaging and absolutely stunning visually. The stunts and action set in Budapest, Moscow and Dubai and are absolutely fantastic and make the movie. Unfortunately the movie slows down greatly in the second half of the movie (or is it two thirds/one third?) in Mumbai and loses itself in some common genre traps: too much explaining stuff that doesn't make sense and some fairly 'average' action. It's a small gripe, probably half explained by the fantastic beginning of the movie. The cast is the best of the series: Jeremy Renner is a good addition, Lea Seydoux is a pretty cool villain and the female lead whose name escapes me is somebody I wish I would have seen in another movie? And Cruise is Cruise, he's the man in this saga. A great movie overall, well done Brad Bird!

The undercover unit comes back into action with several fine spectacular scenes . The crack undercover agent Ethan Hunt(Tom Cruise) is again called back into action by IMF staff , his assignment is a crucial mission to take some nuclear artifacts . The outfit formed by stalwarts specialists (Paula Patton , Simon Pegg ,Jeremy Renner) execute a dangerous operation in the Kremlin , Moscow . But the IMF is shut down , forcing the President to invoke Ghost Protocol , when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin , causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name . Meanwhile, Ethan and his undercover bunch try to discover who set them up . Ethan and his group pursue the main suspect , Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) , to Dubai where carry out dangerous capers .

This energetic movie packs unstopped action , hair-raising suspense , exciting thriller , frenetic pursuits and lots of violence . Well made high-tech hijinks and full of breathtaking set-up with impressive images . Tom Cruise performed the sequence where Ethan Hunt scales the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower himself without the use of a stunt doublé , the Burj Khalifa tower is the tallest building in the world , it is the Armani Hotel Dubai , the first hotel designed and developed by Giorgio Armani . During the filming of production, Tom Cruise did the majority of his own stunts including the skyscraper sequences to show the audience it was actually him ; this would allow director Brad Bird to have more capabilities with camera angles & not having to hide the fact it is a stuntman doing the stunts . The film contains an interesting as well as twisted story in flamboyant treatment , worth two hours'time, written by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec and based on the vintage characters by Bruce Heller . Lalo Schifrin's classic score television is again well reused here , at a much higher decibel level and adding a stirring soundtrack by Michael Giacchini , fitting perfectly to action . Fascinating and luxurious cinematography by excellent cameraman by Robert Elswit . As usual, Tom Cruise co-executive produced , along with J.J. Abrams , Josh Appelbaum , Bryan Burk , David Ellison , but not the usual Paula Wagner ; in fact this is the first Mission: Impossible film not to be produced by herself . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Brad Bird , though this is his live-action directorial debut . He's a successful producer , writer and director with a lot of hits such as ¨Ratatouille¨ , ¨Iron Giant¨ and ¨The Incredibles¨ . Rating : Better than average and well worth seeing . The tale will appeal to Tom Cruise fans and unstop action movies fans. The film made $693 million at the box office worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing installment in the franchise ; it also surpassed War of the worlds (2005) to become Tom Cruise's highest grossing film as of 2012.

Other installments from this popular and successful series are the followings : ¨Mission : Impossible¨ by Brian De Palma with Tom Cruise , Ving Rhames , Jon Voight , Henry Czerny , Kristin Scott Thomas , Vanessa Redgrave Emmanuel Beart , Jean Reno ; ¨Mission : Impossible II¨ by John Woo with Dougray Scott , Thandie Newton , Richard Roxburgh ,John Polson , Brendan Gleeson ; ¨MI 3¨ (2006) by J. J. Abrahams with Philip Seymour Hoffman , Ving Rhames, Maggie Q, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and in preparation ¨Mission : Impossible V¨ (2015) by Christopher McQuarrie with Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg , Ving Rhames , Rebecca Ferguson , Sean Harris , Alec Baldwin and , of course , Tom Cruise .

The movie presents a story that is absurd. Nevertheless, it is entertaining. The movie takes the players to many different parts of the world. How they get to these places the movie does not explain. At each place people are on the run, traps are being set, communications are tense, as the good guys and bad guys try to outwit the other. The movie is devoid of any overt political content, concentrating its attention on telling the story. Tom Cruise delivers an energetic performance that carries the movie. He is in almost every scene. The movie is never dull. For fans of action movies, this movie will not disappoint.