Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

This is when the franchise started to shine. Keeping the same core cast and allowing them to grow really helps the film take off. The familiarity, the backstory, the connection lends itself to more time in the story and action and less with backstory and building an environment. The set pieces are fantastic and the connection between the two lead male agents really makes it a compelling story. This movie hits all the spots it needs. It has humor, suspense and action all while staying true to the mission impossible franchise. And the stunts are exactly what made this franchise become a long running entity.

**Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol takes an already great formula and upgrades it with bigger stunts, more character development, and an expanded universe.** Ghost Protocol tops the list of best Mission Impossible movies and sits near the top of best spy films. Ghost Protocol ratchets up the action, the stunts, the comedy, and the allure while still delivering a compelling and entertaining story in ways the franchise hadn’t mastered before. The world of the IMF expands beyond its star agent Ethan Hunt by showing agents on other missions and giving Hunt’s team backstories and development. Brad Bird’s Pixar charm rubs off on the film with fun, quirky moments punctuating the incredible action set pieces and providing a little breathing room in the intense face-paced plot. The quality of new characters and the pedigree of the actors playing them seems to prepare the franchise for spin-offs or even a changing of the guard (if Tom Cruise ever wanted to pass the movies on to a new lead). Ghost Protocol sets a new bar for the Mission Impossible series that causes its successors to thrive as they reach for its level of excellence. If you didn’t want to watch all 6 (and soon to be 8), Ghost Protocol wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

This is almost as good as the first outing - almost 20 years ago - for "Ethan" (Tom Cruise) and he finds himself on the wrong end of an evaluation from the US Government - led by "Hunley" (Alec Baldwin) that wants to dissolve the IMF. He and "Luther" (VIng Rhames), meantime, are on the trail of the "Syndicate" - a criminal organisation that poses a real threat to the peace and security of the nation and to his organisation. Co-opting "Benji" (Simon Pegg) and "Brandt" (Jeremy Renner) they soon come across the enigmatic "Ilsa" (Rebecca Ferguson) who wants to help out, but why? What now ensues is a tautly directed thriller with plenty of action that takes us all around Morocco and Europe before quite a gripping conclusion to the intrigue leaves everyone unsure who they can trust. Christopher McQuarrie seems to have decided to go back to the television series for reference here, the teamwork (even from the usually terrible Pegg) and the plot develop more plausibly and excitingly; it has a grittier and more substantial story to it, and even if Cruise looks a little unkempt from time to time, that narrative is just better - it actually is a thriller rather than just another piece of star-led boisterous entertainment. Like most films that depict the principle of US Senate oversight, it continues to poke fun at the (in)competencies of that body to even make a proper cup of coffee; there is some humour in the dialogue and it's put the franchise very much back on track.

Perhaps what I'm missing with _Mission: Impossible_ is the big screen experience. Because I'm just not really feeling the love with this franchise. 15 years down the road since the first film and it still all feels a little unfocussed and silly to me, despite how beloved I know it is. That all said, and though the villain here is certainly no Phillip Seymour-Hoffman of _M:I:III_, I still felt this was the strongest entry of the franchise so far. They even finally figured out that women can be used for more than just a damsel-in-distress, throwaway-set-piece or eye-candy. They haven't moved terribly far past that point, but at least they're changing it up a little. This fourth entry also adds a little levity, something a series that has always been a little dumb, is well served by. _Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._