Massively enjoyable.

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2011)

Like a fine wine, Tom Cruise's spy franchise is getting better with age. After the return-to-form with M:I3, the Cruiser is back better than ever as Ethan Hunt, this time teaming up with Jeremy Renner's enigmatic analyst Brandt, Paula Patton's revenge-driven Jane and Simon Pegg's comedy relief Benji to stop terrorist and all-round crazy man Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) from sparking a nuclear war. The plot – although featuring a handful of twists and turns – is fairly standard, but it's the action that elevates this to 'awesome' status. Impeccably shot and employing some inventive special effects, Ghost Protocol boasts some of the best set-pieces put to celluloid this year. The Burj Khalifa sequence – which sees Cruise execute all of his own mind-boggling stunts on the outside of the world's tallest building – is the single finest example of pure, unadulterated cinematic joy 2011 has offered up. With a stereotypical villain, unexplored subplots and an underused Josh Holloway, this fourth instalment into the Impossible series may not be perfect, but it's massively enjoyable.