Loaded with action stunts in typical summer blockbuster fashion...

Rating: 6/10 (14 May 2012)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL delivers exactly what you expect a film of this kind to do--entertain the masses, especially action fans who like all those cool gadgets, all those stunts from high places, and all of the twists in plot that keep the story spinning between each new outburst of violent action.
As usual, the mission is to prevent a nuclear device from destroying and vaporizing an entire population in an exotic locale. This time Ethan Hunt has Benji (Simon Pegg) for comic relief, Paula Patton as Jane Carter for a curvaceous female co-agent, and Jeremy Brenner as the troubled agent who's hiding something until the reveal.
But it's not the plot that really carries the film. It's the outstanding use of picturesque locales combined with the danger of stunts that look amazingly as though nobody could have survived the making of the film. Cruise's spiderman stunt on a high tower glass skyscraper is something to see, as are many of his "chase and be chased" stunts.
To enjoy this sort of thing you have to ignore the credibility gaps in the story and simply dwell on the action-filled sequences, some of which look absolutely amazing. The photography is first rate, especially clever at capturing a frantic chase through a sand storm and other such perils that look like a danger to life and limb.
Tom Cruise still looks fit enough to handle most of his stunts and does so with an intensity he always projected as the daring agent. All in all, the film is an example of how to put together an action film with few lulls in its long running time, and one that is sure to please the masses.
One of its saving graces: no shaky camera as in the "Bourne" films.