The Martlet

In this latest instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, the Impossible Missions Force is shut down after its implied association with the bombing of the Kremlin. The president of the United States invokes “Ghost Protocol,” which disavows the IMF agency. With no back-up or help, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team must find the terrorist who bombed the Kremlin — a terrorist who has acquired Russian nuclear launch codes that could destroy the world. The team travels around the world to Russia, Dubai and Mumbai to track down the terrorist known as Hendricks.

Ghost Protocol is an action movie in the purest sense. It gives the audience sequences that pump the adrenaline and don’t let up. In the most exhilarating scene, Hunt must scale the exterior of a sky-scraper in Dubai from the 130th floor to the 142nd with nothing but two adhesive gloves. The scene becomes even more exciting when the gloves start to malfunction, and Hunt is left dangling from one hand. It’s a moment that will leave your heart pounding, especially when you’re armed with the knowledge that Tom Cruise didn’t use a stunt double in the scene.

In Ghost Protocol, unlike the previous M.I. films, all the characters are fallible — they can’t achieve feats of physical strength without some human error. Hunt misses his mark multiple times and bashes his head, face, arm, or back. This brings in a more realistic feel to the movie that audiences will appreciate. Still, Hunt lays his body on the line so many times that it is a miracle he even makes it to the halfway point of the film.

Most aspects of the film stretch reality but do not go beyond the believable; however, one scene is too farfetched. The scene involves one character “floating” another over an industrial fan using magnetic attraction. For this scene, viewers have to completely suspend any sense of reality and just allow the movie to retain its high intensity. It is a little speed bump in an otherwise smoothly constructed film.

Overall, the film is pure excitement, fun and entertainment. The great writing and directing has raised the bar for the Mission: Impossible franchise, and delivers a movie that will leave audiences jacked up on an adrenaline rush.