Formulaic fun

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2012)

So we get another Mission Impossible film and by this point I have pretty neutral expectations. The series has been on a see saw trend with a brilliant first film, a dire second film and a decent third. By that logic this one would return to the dire or dire like nature of the second. It doesn't. 'Ghost Protocol' certainly makes for a fast paced film that knows by now that too much exposition outside of 'your mission if you choose to accept it' is not going to down too well with an audience hungry for action and already familiar with the concept. It starts at a decent pace making for interesting viewing as we see Ethan in prison. From there on in action en sews and you don't need me to tell you too much about it.
If you have seen any of these films before you'll get the gist straight away. It does make for a decent introduction and gives us our lead character Ethan once again well played by Tom Cruise. Of course it is not where the main plot takes place but rather kicks in at the Kremlin where it really starts to go down and Ethan and his team must clear the IMF's name after a bombing. When I say formulaic it kicks in at the beginning but nonetheless it is very fun. From here on in the action is well shot and to be fair there is plenty of tension. Performances wise they do a decent job, this time with four leads only really Paula Patton who was weak in some areas but to be fair made up for it in others. Jeremy Renner being a good newcomer to the series and Simon Pegg of course providing the comic relief. He was very annoying in parts, probably due to the fact he has a much bigger role this time round. You can more or less guess what is going to happen at various points but it is still a good action film. It is some of the best in the series and didn't feel too over the top. It certainly looked like they had learnt their lesson after the second film. To summarise it is decent, although by now it knows what sort of film goer will see it and provides a good enough ride for those who already know what they're getting into.