\nMission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is straight forward action from beginning to end. In fact, it is very much like The Adventures of Tintin and I like them both for the same reason: simplicity. The good guys are good and the bad guys must be stopped. There\u2019s a job to do and our heroes get it done. The focus is on the method not the motive.\n<\/p>\n
\nI also appreciate that Ghost Protocol lacks the meanness of many action movies. Sure the generic bad guy wants to detonate a nuclear bomb and start Armageddon. But that\u2019s general evil, not personal sadism. As much as I liked Daniel Craig\u2019s reboot of Bond, watching him stripped naked getting his balls kicked wasn\u2019t exactly escapism.\n<\/p>\n
\nGhost Protocol also succeeds in taking itself not too seriously. For example, thanks to face recognition software there\u2019s now apparently an app for identifying assassins. The only downside is that while you\u2019re looking at your phone to see why it\u2019s alerted you, the assassin has time to walk right up to you and kill you. Ah, the dangers of contemporary life; walking around looking at your phone oblivious to the world in front of you. In fact, Ghost Protocol has quite a few amusing instances of user experience design failure. I\u2019d certainly have words with whomever designed a lock on a train car that can be opened only with a retinal scan. Director Brad Bird has a lot of fun with all the gadgets but also seems to be reminding us that we can\u2019t rely too heavily on them. In the end, we must depend on our courage and wit.\n<\/p>\n
\nSimon Pegg, as computer geek turned newly minted field agent, also balances Tom Cruise\u2019s one-note intentness. Jeremy Renner is interesting as the analyst that becomes part of the team when things go dark. After an improbable escape he can\u2019t help but ask the questions the whole audience is thinking, \u201cWhat made you think that would work?\u201d The only weak link in the cast, for me, was Paula Patton. Her character was competent but she didn\u2019t bring anything special to the team; she wasn\u2019t quite at their level. She seemed merely to be the \u201cfemale team member\u201d, stuck in for diversity. However, what I really like about Ghost Protocol is that we don\u2019t get bogged down with character backstory or motivation. It\u2019s simple, clean action from beginning to end.\n<\/p>\n
\nFinally. Kudos to Tom Cruise for the skyscraper stunt.<\/p>\n
Thrills. No frills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is straight forward action from beginning to end. In fact, it is very much like The Adventures of Tintin and I like them both for the same reason: simplicity. The good guys are good and the bad guys must be stopped. There\u2019s a job to do and our heroes get it done. The focus is on the method not the motive. I also appreciate that Ghost<\/p>\n