Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)

★★★½
Brad Bird's hiring as the director of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol signified a massive leap forward for the franchise. The previous installments were all solid entries in a series trending upward, but the fourth movie is a spectacular showcase of stunts and intricate plotting on a whole new level. Everything is bigger and better this time around. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt and looks completely at home as he's dangling outside the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (I've been to Dubai. The building is a towering monster that casts a giant shadow over everything.) Bird so masterfully orchestrates the action and storytelling that he looks like he's been directing live-action for years, even though this is his first such project after his animated efforts The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. Whatever hunch Tom Cruise and producer J.J. Abrams had about Bird paid off.

Hunt and his team are searching for a man named Cobalt, who is on the market to buy nuclear launch codes for reasons villains typically have for obtaining nuclear launch codes. Hunt and team members Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg, expanding the role he had in Mission: Impossible III) infiltrate the Kremlin to dig up information on the identity of Cobalt, and their break-in plan is ingenious. In a series known for its heist scenes, the Kremlin plan is one of the best. It involves the creation of a false hallway to fool the guard, and the device used to create the effect is a stroke of genius. Even then, while Bird wants us to admire the originality of the moment, he has time to kid around with it too. Benji almost bungles the operation, but his mishap actually serves another purpose than going for a quick laugh. His mistake further illustrates just how this device works for anyone unclear about its function.

Cobalt bombs the Kremlin as the I.M.F. is about to escape. Hunt's team is alone now as the President of the United States disavows the I.M.F. using a procedure known as Ghost Protocol. Hunt's unofficial mission, given to him by the secretary (Tom Wilkinson), is to obtain the codes and stop whatever Cobalt has planned. Analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) is present for the mission briefing, but he becomes an unplanned team member for Hunt when the Russians close in. The plot moves to Dubai, where another sequence of intricate deception takes place before a final confrontation in India. On the journey there, we get even more secret agent gadgets and roleplaying, with the four team members using their confidence in one another and perfect timing to thwart nuclear war. This movie further demonstrates the key component in every movie of this series, which is the chemistry formed among team members who might be working together for the first time.

That right there is part of what makes this series so strong. It meticulously engages in world-building to such a degree that a lengthy introduction to new characters isn't necessary. They arrive to do the job, and we learn about any unique skills along the way. We come to understand the nature of the I.M.F. and the kind of people it recruits. Team members can come and go with no loss in forward momentum, because the constants (Ethan Hunt and Luther Stickell, who only gets a cameo here due to budget constraints) are always with us. They've all had the same kind of training. They know how to wear masks and stay cool when impersonating others. Brandt, whose background is slowly revealed to us, gets thrown into the plot and adapts well to it. The entire Burj Khalifa sequence, from Hunt climbing the outside of the skyscraper to the plan to give Cobalt fake codes, is ingenious already, but when unexpected events happen that threaten to disrupt the plan, the team's quick thinking saves the day. It's is a testament to their comradery and ability to improvise.

I don't know whose idea it was to drop Hunt's wife from the series, but it was the right call. She served her purpose in Mission: Impossible III, and any additional plot going forward would either involve her staying at home or getting kidnapped later. She is properly written off the series, though her cameo informs us how she and Ethan feel about each other. Mission: Impossible acknowledges its history and doesn't contradict itself like I've seen with other movies series. There's a quick scene in which we see a guy put a bag on Ethan's head. It's the same actor from the first movie. If you missed it, it doesn't matter. If you caught it, you realize just how intertwined everyone is in these ongoing spy games. Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol is slick on the surface, with its high-concept stunts and fast-paced action, but the ever widening world of Ethan Hunt and the I.M.F. gives way to villainous schemes of greater ambition, and greater ambition means more ways for the writers to keep outdoing themselves. All we have to do is enjoy the ride.

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