Ghost Protocol, or "we finally thought of a cool name for that thing that happens in each of these"

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2012)

Ethan returns, sans wife(rendering the third film even more pointless than... it... already was), and after a failed mission(a result that becomes a bit of a trend in this), he and his team(and the entire IMF, for a slight, and unnoticeable, change... yes, there will be no backup, intel or the like in this, remember how heavily they relied on those in the predecessors to this? No? Huh, me neither... well, I'm sure it's in there, or it wouldn't be a big deal in this) are disavowed, and these four people are the only thing keeping an international terrorist from destroying the world(did I mention that this is immensely Hollywood? It is. Very much so). This has been getting a pretty positive response from critics, and one might have feared that this was merely on account of them hoping not to be depicted as a stereotypical caricature resembling an undertaker in Bird's next animated picture. Fortunately, that is not the case, and this is the best sequel so far, being roughly as good as the first one. It's as much a spy thriller as it is an action flick(with cool martial arts fights and chases, vehicular and otherwise), and both aspects work well. This is rather tense and you really get into it(the plot is convoluted, of course, and yet you can follow it well). It's the most visual of these(and do keep in mind that one of them was made by John Woo), as well as the... well, only one with numerous exotic locations from around the world. All in all, it's pretty straightforward(if largely satisfying) and won't be remembered for much, and certainly didn't need to be an entry in this series, but it gains a reason to exist(come on, it's not even altering the formula!) by the interesting and well-explored thematic of spies having to make difficult decisions and live with them(survivor's guilt, Jane(who has a cleavage-off with the female assassin, and they generally both look hot) is dealing with the feeling that she got a fellow agent killed, and you have a genuine fear that she might crack, even in this situation of grand stakes(bigger than the '96 one, and unlike the J.J. one, which had none, at least no clear ones). In fact, the good guys are actual characters(unlike the generic-as-they-come villains, who barely get lines, motivation or distinguishing features), even if Brandt turns out to be much less intriguing(especially with the terrible resolution, this should have ended at least ten minutes sooner than it did) than the trailer suggests, and Benji should not get this amount of screen-time(come on, he's a one-note walking joke, with his quirk). That actually brings me nicely to the humor and dialog, that while this can be fun, are quite hit and miss, they try way too hard sometimes. Also, though the pacing is solid, it gets distracting how terrified this is to stand still(one bit even has them spoiling a dramatic, emotional scene by following it up with a dumb gag). They do keep the full face-masks(if limited this time around), and the iconic "stopping just above ground level" sequence is redone, still less effective than in the original if not as bad as in the second movie. For these people running around the globe and supposedly chased and under threat, unlike the Bourne trilogy, I do not get a sense that they are in constant danger of being caught and worse. There is a lot of mild violence, some moderate language and a little disturbing content in this. I recommend this to fans of those involved, and of Summer blockbusters(why was this released in Winter?). 7/10