3.5 stars out of 5
I hadn’t gone to see a movie starring Tom Cruise since, well, Mission: Impossible III. And guess what? The crazy bastard can still put together a totally entertaining action film. It won’t win any awards, but Ghost Protocol was much more enjoyable beginning to end than several other recent “quality” films.
Tom himself is looking a little tired, but remarkably, the series isn’t. We must give credit to yet another top-flight director (Brad Bird, who follows Brian DePalma, John Woo, and J.J. Abrams). Whether it was a budget decision or just confidence in the material, this Mission is less star-packed than the previous installments. Yeah, we get Jeremy “Hurt Locker” Renner, but otherwise it’s Simon Pegg (back for comic relief), a couple of quick cameos, and generic quasi-Hispanic tough-as-nails team member. (Michelle Rodriguez is not returning calls post-Avatar?) Ah yes, and because this feels like an excellent episode of 24, we get President Omar Hassan in a funny little sequence.
The M:I movies may not be as good as the Bourne films, or even the recent Bond movies, but for what it is, it’s pretty terrific. The music, the gadgets, and lots of clever and/or thrilling set pieces. We want action and the movie delivers. There wasn’t one moment where I thought “Now that is over-the-top stupid,” and I have to say, that’s pretty high praise.
Jack Silbert, curator