Earlier I talked about Steven Spielberg's transition from live action to computer animation in The Adventures of Tintin. Well here we have someone doing the exact opposite. Brad Bird, director of three excellent animated films (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille), tries his hand at live action with the latest entry in the Mission Impossible series. Surprisingly, he is far more successful at his transition than Spielberg. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a great achievement in solid, smart, incredibly exciting action filmmaking.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol begins with our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in prison for unspecified reasons. A breakout is initiated by two new team members, Jane (Paula Patton) and Benji (Simon Pegg). They are tasked with retreiving a stolen briefcase that contains Russian nuclear launch codes. As usual, not everything goes according to plan and the team is framed for something they didn't do. The team is sent scrambling, with analyst Peter Brandt (Jeremy Renner) eventually joining them. They must retreive the nuclear launch codes to clear their names and prevent nuclear war.
Brad Bird's The Incredibles had some of the most fun and exciting action sequences I've seen in a film, but much of that had to do with Bird taking advantage of the seemingly unlimited capabilities of computer animation. So it was a bit of a surprise to see him do such a masterful job setting up incredible live action set pieces here. The much talked about one takes place in Dubai on the tallest building in the world as Ethan attempts to enter one of the higher floors from the outside. Not only is it one of the most viscerally exciting action scenes ever, but it also serves as a brilliant tribute to Harold Lloyd's Safety Last! Bird also shows prowess designing action sequences in confined spaces, as in the film's ending which takes place in a parking garage and has a fascinating finish.
Apart from the great design of the action sequences, what makes Bird so successful here is the complete confidence he has in everything he does in this film. Lesser action directors (Michael Bay, I'm looking at you) often fall into the trap of rapidfire cutting to make their otherwise dull action scenes seem more exciting, but there is thankflly none of that nonsense here. Bird is confident enough in the way he's set everything up that he is able to let the camera linger, and in fact often builds tension precisely because the camera doesn't move. A great example is a clever caper sequence inside the Kremlin where Hunt and his team take inspiration from Bugs Bunny in designing a fake background to fool a guard.
Tom Cruise slides comfortably back into his old role and is completely convincing in the action scenes, while providing a calm charisma elsewhere. The new members of his squad are all solid choices. Simon Pegg does a good job in not overplaying the silly action sidekick schtick. Paula Patton has the right combination of sex appeal and physical presence. And Jeremy Renner has fun playing a bit against type as an analyst that may or may not be in over his head. The cast has a strong chemistry and they all play off each other very well. This is a team that I can't wait to see work together again.
The story, such as it is, is appropriately intriguing and never relies on stupidity or laziness. It's all a big MacGuffin because we know the bomb isn't gonna go off and start a nuclear war, but the film keeps challenging the audience on this point, throwing in new wrinkles now and then that make everything seem hopeless. There's a dramatic subplot for both Ethan and Jane, whose loved ones have both been killed, but it is handled in a limited and remarkably restrained manner. Brad Bird just manages to get every single thing right in this film. His previous three films have all received my highest rating and made my top 10 list for their respective years. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol will make it 4 for 4. It is one of the best films of the year.
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