Mission Impossibles 2 Through 4

Mission Impossible 2 (2000)

Runtime: 123 minutes

Directed by: John Woo

Starring: Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames

From: Paramount

Mission Impossible 3 (2006)

Runtime: 126 minutes

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Tom Cruise, Michelle Mongahan, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell

From: Paramount

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 175 reviews)

Runtime: 133 minutes

Directed by: Brad Bird

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton

From: Paramount

For my last review of the year, it'll be a 3 in 1 deal, although I'll mainly talk about Ghost Protocol, which I actually saw before 2 and 3. I had to use Wikipedia to get the low-down on the plots for both before I was able to watch them.

2 concerns a virus known as Chimera and its cure, which are stolen by a former IMF agent (Scott) and Ethan Hunt has to use Newton as her womanly charms will help him get close to Scott. They go to Australia and have various adventures there. That's about it for the plot.

I did not really like this one at all. Woo appeared to be a parody of himself here with how he used slow-motion and his various motifs, such as doves and what have you. But what really sinks things is that all the characters I could not stand for various reasons. I mean, they act really stupid most of the time and if they don't act dumb, they're just obnoxious. It's a shame, as the Australian sights are nice and so is some of the action.

3 I definitely preferred. The story was better, Cruise seemed more like a team player than a solo act, Hoffman was pretty cool as he cashed in a fat paycheck for his rare appearance in a blockbuster rather than his standard indy faire (hopefully in the future he plays a Bond villain, as that could be tremendous) and there's some nice action present too. However, as I heard elsewhere, it seems like a TV show too often and too often there's an odd color tint to things. I guess that's Abrams as a newbie (at the time) big-screen director. If he did it now I'm sure it'd be better, but this movie is at least a fine time-waster, even if it could have been pretty good with some changes.

Now, onto Ghost Protocol, which I got to watch on a giant screen last Thursday. This series isn't my favorite, to be honest; however, I think this is the best one. While I wish the villain would have been fleshed out more and not such a cypher and the story wouldn't have been as popcorn slight at times, it still works quite well as entertaining shut your brain off fare and if you enjoy fun and exciting action that isn't as insulting or insufferable as Transformers or other films of its ilk, then you should have a good time and I am glad I saw this on the big screen. Some of the scenes were made for a large screen.

The story isn't too complex. Ethan Hunt and his IMF pals Benji (Pegg) and Jane (Patton) have to do a mission at the Kremlin; this is to get information to help them stop an evil Russian looking to use a nuclear weapon to his advantage. However, they get set up there and the Kremlin is bombed. Thus, the IMF is disbanded and the three agents have to go rogue to stop that Russian and his pals. They end up going to Dubai and another exotic location which I won't divulge. Brandt (Renner), who is an “intelligence analyst” gets involved and there are some secrets he has.

While the story isn't the most original it at least is fun escapeism. The action is pretty darn good throughout. The stuff you see in Dubai is especially exciting and well-done. For a guy that previously only directed animated films, Brad Bird did a great job helming this. I certainly prefer that directing style to the likes of directors who use that shaky-cam or quick-edit crap. Hopefully he directs a Bond film one of these days. Speaking of that, this was a much more satisfying spy adventure than Quantum of Solace was.

I'll be back on the 31st where I will reveal my 10 best movies I saw this year.