REVIEW: Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise is back in the latest explosive blockbuster, but is he getting on a bit? 


To any naysayers, I must say I really enjoyed Mission Impossible 3 and thought it was a real step forward for the franchise. This is a worthy sequel and with Abrams still on board as a producer, it is a gun-ho action packed piece of pure cinema to really get the blood pumping.

The story, much like many of this ilk, is inconsequential. Sawyer from Lost has been killed getting some nuclear codes from A to B or something. America and Russia are in another cold war and it's up to Tom Cruise to save the day. There are some great set pieces from around the world with all the whistles and stops that come from such a multimillion blockbuster and there's no doubt you get a lot of bang for your buck. Whether it's jumping out from a skyscraper, a chase scene in a sand storm, a prison escape or just the edge-of-your-seat tension of trying not to blow your cover (that's what she said), Mission Impossible 4 ticks all the right boxes. It must be said Cruise still gives it 110% effort and the results are really up there on the screen, his other cast members also make quite a good team all complimenting one another. Jeremy Renner impresses and shows that he can easily be the next Bourne, even Pegg didn't annoy me which is a first. The villains also might not be of Seymour-Hoffman calibre but still do some scene chewing.

Director Brad Bird has also done extremely well for someone who hasn't done a live action film before, his previous credits being in animation such as The Incredibles and working on The Simpsons for quite a while, and you can't fault his skill. However, the film did have a few issues. Namely, the pace isn't as high-paced as the last one, which might be ok but sometimes we don't need to see every tiny detail that happens with each mission. An example of how this worked before when in MI3 when they are in China, Cruise just suddenly jumps out of a skyscraper from above without the audience seeing anything at all of what happened before. It was a bold move and paid off, however MI4 just carries on the whole 'here's the mission, here's what we have to do, here is us doing it, here's where it's gone wrong, here's how we fixed it' and then kept to that formula about five times during the film. There were a few surprises but there was nothing that made me think it was taking chances, it was just pure spectacle. Which isn't a bad thing.

The added benefit was also that I watched it in IMAX which is always that bit better than seeing it on a normal cinema. There's nothing here that will change the world, but the action is top notch and it's definitely going to make the Bond franchise sit up and take notice again because on all accounts, Mission Impossible is in the lead. Overall, I'd give it an extra mark for IMAX mind-blowing visual candy, but as a film it is good but not great and you can't go wrong with hopping to the cinema to see it, you'll be thoroughly entertained.

Rating: 7/10

Knight & Day

Cruise is back to prove he can still pull in the crowds, but is it time to call it a (Knight &) Day?

I have a problem with Tom Cruise. Mainly because I really, really want to like him. I'm a big fan of his work and I don't really know why. I loved him in Risky Business to Vanilla Sky to Minority Report to Eyes Wide Shut to Mission Impossible (3) to Tropic Thunder and every time, like a giddy schoolgirl, I fall for his charm. Damn it I don't know why! So when I walked into this movie I was ready to be dazzled and in all fairness, I was.

Cruise's character Roy is an example of self-aware over-acting to the point where it comes back on itself and becomes fun. This is hyperbolic to a tee and Cruise wallows in the ridiculously charismatic yet dangerous Roy that he embodies. The emotional pull here is supposed to be his relationship with Diaz and that he might be able to do anything, but can he commit? But don't worry, they don't focus too much on this. Instead, the plot follows Diaz as she gets entangled in Roy's world and suddenly gets a new lust for life, not that anything was really wrong with her life in the first place. Which is the problem...

Firstly, Cameron Diaz looks old. I mean, yeah she's glamorous and everything but look at her hands, what has she done to herself? And her skin? My God, the poor make-up artist involved in that must have been well paid. Don't get me wrong, she's gorgeous but it's definitely the beginning of the end for her and she should start looking at some more mature roles rather than these fun ones, and leave them to the youngsters they belong to. It's only because Cruise looks a bit old too now that she gets away with it but if it was anyone like Chris Evans (not the ginger one), she would have looked more like his mum. Her acting is confident and fun, but she's just a canvas for Cruise to paint himself on and she really does try to hold her own, but this is really the Tom Cruise show. As strong and independent as they try to make her, really she's just pathetic.

I won't give anything away as I thought it was more enjoyable letting them drip feed you information rather than knowing anything at all, but it's a globe-trotting action flick that cranks everything up to 11 and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The script is cheesy and laughable but it does what it says on the tin.

Overall, it's a good bang for your buck and a bunch of nonsense, but it went on for a lot longer than I wished and though some parts worked, the cheese smelt so bad I had to turn away at places. If you hate Tom Cruise, then why are you even reading this? If you like him, you'll probably enjoy this and if, like me, you seem to be strangely captivated by him, it might be worth it. It's no Mission Impossible 3 (which I LOVED and don't care if people didn't) but it's not as bad as Charlie's Angels. If you like a no-brainer action piece you can take the missus to, then go see it, but you'll forget about it in a couple of days, and you should probably go see Inception instead.

Rating: 6/10