Contains One of the Greatest Action Scenes Ever Filmed

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2012)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
The fourth film in the franchise finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) having to clear IMF's name after they're implicated in a deadly bombing in Russia. Soon the agent and his team are trying to track down a madman who has bought some nuclear codes and plans on starting a nuclear war. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL falls a tad bit short from the third film in the series but it's still one of the best action films to come along in a very long time. Unlike the first two movies in the series, this one and the previous didn't deliver confusing story lines instead they gave us a story that we could follow and some of the most amazing action scenes in the history of cinema. There's a sequence in the middle of this film where Cruise must climb on the outside of the Burj Khalifa building, the world's tallest, and what follows is simply spell-bounding and will have you on the edge of your seats. I'm not 100% certain how they did the stunt but this entire sequence contains one bit of suspense after another and I can't help but think that in future film school classes that they will break this scene apart, study the editing and cinematography and it will become a thing of legend. Yes, that's very high praise but I'd love to hear from someone other than a troll who wasn't impressed by this entire sequence. The only negative thing about this sequence is that it's never topped in the following hour and it somewhat leads the ending a little bit of a letdown because it doesn't quite reach the same level of intensity. With that said, this is an exceptionally good action film that contains the nice story and great action and of course we're given several characters that we care for. Cruise jumps back to the top with some terrific stunts and that excellent performance is always here. The supporting cast includes some wonderful work by Hunt's team, which includes Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg. Michael Nygvist is good as the bad guy but I think the character falls a bit short of previous film villains. Still, if you want action and a good time I doubt you're going to find a better place than with this film.