4 stars (out of 5)
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nygvist, Anil Kapoor, Tim Wilkinson, Lea Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Ving Rhames
Rating: (M)
Once, a new Tom Cruise film was a big deal, but now it is his oddball off-screen antics that keep us entertained. Things have quietened down since he jumped on Oprah's couch but he still exudes a heavy whiff of "short guy with issues".
Much the same had happened with the Mission Impossible franchise. It was a big money-earner, but the third one made people hold their noses.
Now, like Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Rialto and Hoyts) is back - far more sombre, yet with bigger, more flashy, stunts.
I have not seen the third movie because the second one was the one that turned me off but that did not dent my enjoyment of Ghost Protocol.
It opens with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) banged up in a Russian prison and the team working to free him. Ethan has been deep undercover but there is no time for him to debrief; it is straight to the next mission, breaking into the Kremlin.
Once there, we are treated to some cool spy malarkey and it all seems to be going well until another team piggybacks on to the mission and frames Ethan's team for a very bad thing.
So the team go rogue to track down the real wrongdoers and jet around the world engaging in a whole bunch of flashy stunts.
Actually, in a year without a Bond movie, this is the best you are going to get.
Best thing: The flashy stunts.
Worst thing: Having an extended chase in a sandstorm is pretty dumb because no-one can see anything!
See it with: A scientologist.
- Christine Powley
