Movie Review: Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

*ing Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Anil Kapoor

Directed by Brad Bird

THE LAST ACTION HERO

The National Geographic came out with a stunning pic sometime ago (see below) which at first sight looks like a simple picture of camels crossing the desert.  When you look closer you see that what you thought were the camels are in fact their shadows while the camels are the little brown things being photographed from directly above.

After the mind-blowing vertigo-inducing (believe me this is not hyperbole) scene at the Burj Khalifa, Tom Cruise chases the villain and director Brad Bird manages a similar effect. Simply Stunning.

I don’t remember who exactly said it but I’d read sometime ago a quote (from a critic I presume) which defined a good movie as having “3 great scenes and no bad ones”

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol ticks every box. And more than thrice.

It moves from Budapest to Moscow to Dubai (in all its glory) and then to Mumbai (which sadly is hardly there).

While attending the DIFF (Dubai Intl Film Festival) Tom said that he wanted MI4 to be bigger, funnier and faster.

Director Brad Bird who has earlier only made cartoons (or animated features as they respectfully call them) like Ratatouille and The Incredibles brings the same breathless energy and suspension of disbelief to this movie and WOW, does he knock it for a six.

If you think the Kremlin blowing up was fab wait till Agent Hunt and team land in Dubai.

The packed theatre broke into loud applause the moment the camera swooped over the sand dunes to parade the dazzling skyline of Dubai with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, rising majestically in the middle.

Most of the people clapping were just proud Emaratis but 15 minutes later everyone, Emarati or otherwise, were at the edge of their seats.

 In a kick-ass scene (which is supposed to be even better in IMAX and which alone is worth the price of the ticket) Tom Cruise stands at the edge of a room whose floor to ceiling windows have been removed.

In 1 fluid motion the camera which is initially behind him glides towards him, then swoops over him and out through the open window, looks down and then turns back towards Tom still standing there at the very edge. This is when you realize it is actually Tom (and not some stunt double or god forbid CGI) who is standing there, 130 stories above the ground.

Then for the next 15 minutes of cinematic magic he crawls up, slips, crashes through, jumps out of, runs vertically down the outside and then swings back into the tallest building in the world.

Most of us who were in Dubai when they were shooting the movie know from the local media, which covered it extensively, that Tom did actually do his own stunts and yet you cant help but stare in disbelief.

If Ra-One had just this 1 scene in the movie it would have made double the money.

Of course he was wired safely and all that but even then, just imagine the jaw dropping sight of one of the biggest stars in the world running face down, the outside of the tallest building in the world.

 Hollywood can do CGI crap like Transformers and Iron Man which while great time-pass, you always know is a computer generated spectacle. You enjoy it but can never invest emotionally or cerebrally with it.

However when they do make an effort Hollywood can kick some serious cinematic ass.

The story is irrelevant (almost Bond-like with Russian evil guys and missiles launching out of the sea etc) but it is good enough to keep you interested in between the big set pieces.

After Dubai the story moves to Mumbai but not before there is another classic car chase but this time aided by GPS only as everyone is caught in a huge sandstorm.

Now I guess you just have to allow certain cinematic liberties because in the 8+ years that I’ve lived here, I am yet to see a sandstorm like that.

People driving like crazy on the other hand I’ve seen plenty.

Anil Kapoor during the same film festival said that he modelled his character of a filthy rich super flamboyant business tycoon on Kingfisher CEO Vijay Mallya.

Not sure if Mr. Mallya is sleazy (thought I wouldn’t put it past him especially with his insistence on doing the final interview for every Kingfisher stewardess) but I doubt he is as funny a person like Anil plays him.

He seems like Lakhan in a tuxedo speaking English and at about 5 minutes of screen time quite wasted but Anil being Anil has milked this for all its worth so good for him.

And in case you are trying to guess where it is, his palace/mansion in the movie is actually the new Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel on the Palm in Dubai.

Colleagues who have visited say it is magical and almost palace like. Poor things haven’t been to the real palaces in India.

And again if you wondered where in Mumbai is that space age automated parking structure, its not in India. Not even Dubai. That was somewhere in Toronto.

But these are small quibbles.

Tom may have gone a little bonkers in the last few years and snapped at TV anchors about medications, sparred with Brook Shields about post natal depression (how the hell did he think he knew more about that than someone who’s just pushed a baby through her vajajay) and then famously jumped up and down on Oprah’s couch but lets face it. He is probably the last of the big super stars.

Maybe a little old but he is leaner and fitter than most 20 year olds and if werewolf-boy Jacob can, Ethan Hunt too can whip off his shirt just as often. Now if only he could get his hair to stand like Edward’s.

When he is in control of the crazy, Mr. Cruise can still deliver box office magic.

As you walk out of the theatre all you can remember is the Dum Dum Dadadum Dum Dum from the iconic soundtrack and the sight of Mr. Tom Cruise dangling outside the tallest building in the world on a rope which is still many metres short of the open window and safety. This time he runs along the building, lets go of the rope, sails through the air and hopes for gravity to get him through.

Even Salman Khan wouldn’t try something like that (Rajnikant, Maybe).

So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get to the nearest theatre showing MI4 and be prepared for one of the best action movies of the year.