Getting Better.

Rating: 7/10 (4 March 2016)

Mission: Impossible â€“ Ghost Protocol (2011): Dir: Brad Bird / Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist: An exciting and entertaining action film that is as good as the third film in the series and certainly better than the first two disappointing entries. The film opens with agent Ethan Hunt breaking out of a Russian prison. His wife is reported dead and another agent is killed in the opening when he miscalculates a target who turns out to be female. Hunt assembles a team in order to prevent a terrorist from encoding a nuclear bomb. This is surprisingly well plotted and written with tremendous and creative action scenes including a skyscraper like scene where Hunt is wearing gloves that allow him to suction to the glass. This is a grand and tense scene that ranks among the best of action scenes. Director Brad Bird has had huge success with animations such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Here he proves that action is in the cards and he backs it with visual awe that is sometimes too implausible when one factors how headquarters seem to emerge without question. Tom Cruise is in top form as Hunt. Jeremy Renner enters the picture as an analysis who is thrusts into a plot that will have him emerged in mid air above a ventilation fan. Simon Pegg is comic relief as a computer expert. Paula Patton is connected to the opening sequence tragedy but scores at seducing an enemy without crossing the lines. Michael Nyqvist is effective as the villain who is out to start a nuclear war. Pointless entertainment that is creative, visually inspiring and impossible. Score: 7 / 10