Brad Bird’s Mission Impossible tries to make up for all the crap Hollywood threw at us over the past 2 months (Tintin being an exception). Must say, mission almost accomplished!!!
15 years and 2 sequels later, Tom Cruise returns to large screen as international spy from IMF, Ethan Hunt. But wait, this is not about Tom Cruise.
This movie is all about the animation veteran & wizard, Brad Bird (making his live-action movie debut here). He borrows a lot of elements ( self destructing messages, masks, people suspended in air, and the works) from the first three installments and adds his own brand of blistering , pacy, no holds barred thriller / action narration to juice up a dying franchise.
He is in top form here as he marries his characters from the movie to one of his earlier animation film, The Incredibles. The IMF bunch stays together, fights together. Also, his sense of choreography is apparent as he brings amazing details to the action set pieces, making each frame rich and pacy.
The script as such does not inspire much confidence. It has the usual plots / scenes from all big budget Hollywood action money spinners. A bunch of Spies on the run to prove their innocence. The action takes them from Russia to Dubai to Mumbai ( shot in Vancouver & Dubai, sadly) to Seattle.
Performances are pretty much “standard offer” affair with Tom Cruise doing the thing that he has done all along now. The aging star (pushing 50) has lost some amount of his charm and the Ethan Hunt character was never a great / funny / warm / super awesome guy. The rest of the bunch is capable as well. Jeremy Renner, playing the mysterious analyst in Ethan Hunt’s team gets some of the best lines in the movie.
If everything is just standard affair, what makes the movie paisa vasool, you may ask? LOADS, let me tell you.
1) The Burj Khalifa sequence (rumored to have been done by Mr. Cruise himself) is gobsmackingly awesome. Something worth experiencing in IMAX.
2) Chase sequences are aplenty in spy movies. What cool about this one? Well, this one is a breathless foot and car chase in a binding sandstorm!
3) The use of tech makes James bond & Iron Man look primitive.
4) The Kremlin blast sequence. Easily one the finest blast sequences ever shot. In spite of the fact that everybody knows that it’s CGI, you jump when the bomb goes off.
5) Last but not the least, the Mission Impossible signature tune. There is an Indian instrumental version thrown in as well.
The most disappointing bit in the movie is the India bit where-in you see an aging Indian star (Mr. Anil Kapoor) play a lecherous Indian tycoon. The whole sequence is unintentionally funny. Also, more research would have helped. Greens autos, Kannada font in Mumbai parking lots, high tech multi-level parking lot with UAE license plates in Mumbai just do not let you feel awesome.
But, as I said, it has enough going for it in terms of action, cinematography and a brilliant edit job. This makes Ghost Protocol a treat for the senses. This movie does enough to keep the franchise alive. Anyway, Jeremy Renner's character Brandt, was specifically created as the eventual replacement for Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt for when Cruise decides to step away from the franchise.
Go ahead, the movie is worth the big tub of popcorn. 2 big tubs, in fact!!
And I thought Rajnikant is the only one who can run on the walls of Khalifa.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where in Mumbai was that car parking :P Yea, like you said, awesome experience watching the movie.
Did find it a bit too long. You really need good seats to enjoy the movie....