Hits all the spots for its genre. Best Tom Cruise blockbuster since Minority Report.

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2013)

It's a shame that the Pixar alumni that are branching out to live action aren't flexing the unique and grabbing ideas they explored in animation, as Andrew Stanton releases John Carter and Brad Bird directs here, the fourth instalment of the series, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocal. While I can't speak for the quality of the former besides judging from consensus, Bird's MI4 is a good enough effort. While a director-for-hire could have competently translated the mostly sharp script, Bird adds a little something extra that make it more watchable, but not necessarily special. Granted, I've never enjoyed the series. I only remember watching the third in the cinema and I also remember not liking it at all. Otherwise, I know the iconic scene in which Cruise hangs in the air by a rope and then another with some explosive gum. I can't speak for how this film fits into the series' general tone, but I can compare it to contemporary blockbusters, and it can gladly stand on top of the post-The Dark Knight/Inception pile.
Like every actioner we've had the past 25 years, there are thrills and exposition behind every corner. MI4 delivers them thick and fast at a pretty satisfying rate with great big action set pieces. Naturally, it's pretty predictable beat-by-beat and our troupe of heroes spend the entire film trying to evade world destruction and only actually stop it at the very last second. I don't understand why people still go to see films like that as all tension is removed. Unfortunately, my least favourite part of the film were the "spectacle" moments, when Tom Cruise is in front of a green screen. Just really flat. Movie science aside (in a world where inserting a memory stick is all you have to do and everything is just a couple of taps away from being hacked), there are some really creative and impressive use of gadgets that were really fun to watch, even if they were used in almost unnecessarily convoluted schemes.
While the last film's style was inspired by the Bourne series' shaky-cam, MI4 is perhaps inspired by Inception's slick look and sense of scale. Bird utilizes the full frame at all times and it's wonderfully colourful and dynamic - the only times that sense of scale isn't achieved is when there's obvious special effects flooding the frame. While it does make it compelling to look at, it does lack a lot of intimacy that would make it more involving. But of course, it isn't trying for that. It could've also benefited from more emotional depth from the protagonist, Ethan Hunt but instead, he was just a character that braved everything (besides one thing for a few seconds). He spent the whole film recovering from the wounds of the previous film which was something only developed during the epilogue and for his relationship with a side character, something I found I couldn't connect to. It was the side characters that made the film, particularly as this film has a genuine sense of humour with great funny quips from Simon Pegg's timing and Jeremy Renner's charm.
On a sidenote, it's awesome to see Josh Holloway on the big screen, if just briefly. He even brought a little Lost with him as some mysteries are delivered the same way as in the show by characters or the camera withholding information but it wasn't as drastic as the show. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocal is an action thriller that hits all the typical marks correctly, which is refreshing after a lot of unsatisfying blockbusters from the past year or two.
7/10