Review of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) by Jollyg87 — 16 Dec 2011

The action scenes are the one element that makes this mission great. Not only are they creative, but director Brad Bird handles them like an action master. Personally, I haven't seen action this good since "Casino Royale.

" Unlike a lot of other recent action films, there's no shaky cam, and the action almost always stays focused on one particular element. In other words, it rarely gets out of hand and overwhelming (unlike the last two "Transformers" movies for instance).

Take note, this is how action should always be done. It's sad that action this great is now a novelty, but as an action fan, I'll sure as heck take this as a gift. Besides the cinematography, I also thought the makers did a clever job of giving Hunt opportunities to escape his "impossible" situations.

It was like the creators adapted Matthew Vaughn's philosophy when he made "Kick-Ass". The philosophy was this: If there's at most a 1 out of 1000 chance that a character can accomplish the stunts given to them, it's included it in the movie.

Is it likely Hunt could have done the things he did? No. Is it possible? Maybe. Adapting this philosophy prevents us from laughing at the action, and it allows us, instead, to just go along for the ride.

My only quibble with this film is its running time. With its fairly simple storyline and stock characters, 133 minutes is pushing it just a bit. Luckily, the cast keeps things fresh with Simon Pegg giving an incredibly sharp performance as the techie-nerd comic relief.

Tom Cruise also shows us that at 49 he can kick some major ass. This is a must-see for just about any action fan, and it has to be seen in theaters. The visuals are too incredible for you to get the same effect on a television.