Six years after Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) wife death, he is rescued on a prison in Moscow by an IMF team lead by Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and now promoted field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg).  Now instructed to retrieve information about a certain person of interest only known as "Cobalt", plans turned upside down when the Kremlin exploded and the IMF is totally implicated in the incident.  US president is now forced to activate "Ghost Protocol", a black operation disavowing the agency on any connection to United States.  Now with no backup, no plans, no contact and no choice, Ethan's new team including a new team member IMF Analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Rener) will use everything that they got to clear IMF's tainted name.

Mission: Impossible films were never been my cup of tea.  Spy movies don't really impress me a lot maybe because of too much gadgetry that for me spoils most of the action and analytic thinking that I look for a procedural type film.  That is why I prefer watching adventure and detective thriller films over espionage themed films.  I did see M:I2 before and it  is quite ok for me.  But it never ignited an interest to follow the subsequent sequel (M:I3) and the first (M:I).  But I should say that Ghost Protocol did a very good job simulating my senses and bringing me to a realization that I should see the whole franchise (except the TV series, I won't go that far).


Though Ghost Protocol lacks the robust treatment exhibited on the previous installments, the film managed to give us a beautifully crafted cinematography and creative executions that provides us with brand new experience that will leave everyone hungry for more. Commissioning the genius behind Disney's Iron Giant and Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouile is absolutely a good move.  Brad Bird's ideas definitely works in harmony with the production's own creative vision marking his first live action directorial job an absolute success.  I also believe that the early plans of reboot is somehow still present because Ghost Protocol though obviously still a sequel,  revitalizes the franchise giving it a fresh start for the new generation without completely disregarding the first three films.  The story is straight forward and simple, sprinkled with adrenaline rush which is a complete treat to moviegoers.


Regarding the cast, I'm so sad to find out Ving Rames is reduced to a cameo appearance.  I really like his intimidating but at the same time very quiet demeanor.  I've been wanting to see him kick some real ass in the film but I guess I have to hope that he will return on the next film and do a lot of clobbering time.  Jeremy Rener's appearance in this film makes him an absolute match for Tom Cruise' character.  Well I just found out that he is indeed being groomed to be the replacement of Ethan Hunt just in case Tom Cruise decides to step down from the franchise or at least becomes a minor recurring character like be promoted to higher position in IMF.  Brandt is Hunt's first male teammate that impresses me so much.  He is too good that he overshadows Paula Patton that for me delivered the weakest performance.  Simon Pegg is a good replacement for Ving Rhames since they do almost the same function which is being in charge of the computer and gadgetry operations but unlike Rames, Pegg is effective as the film's comic relief and at the same time also contributed to the action by being hands on in combat.  Villains on the other hand is too flat and their ideology of "survival of the fittest" is not new making them really less interesting.  Plus it didn't help that the actors they got are not that famous (atleast for majority of moviegoers) so the character recall is extremely weak.


Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is now showing in the Philippine cinemas from Paramount Pictures distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment.  If you have budget, watch it on IMAX.  Promise, you'll never regret it.