Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol - Part 1

[Wyrminarrd]

I think the thing I liked most about Ghost protocol was that things weren't personal for Ethan in this movie. He was simply trying to stop a bad guy who neither knew him personally nor was targeting anyone close to him.

 

[Anita18]

Oh yes. He's perfect for Marvel.

MARVEL ARE YOU LISTENING?!?!??!

Early on in the movie, I believe when Ethan is calling for a pickup he says Alpha 113

Dang I can't believe I missed that!

 

[CelticPredator]

Well said sir. Mission Impossible was indeed a smart action movie. Which I love and prefer, and it's refreshing to see care was taken in plot and how it was executed.

Now I just love dumb action movies too. Nothing against them. It's all in the execution. Bad Boys II man. Fun and action filled and nothing more. I will treat it as such. None are above the other because one lacks depth.

Bad Boys II =

But yes. Agreed on all points. That's why I loved the first Sherlock Holmes so much. It was smart. And still fun.

 

[OddBob]

Ghost Protocol is a lot of fun. A large scope, lots of humor, tons of gadgets, a villain out to reboot the world by instigating nuclear war. It really brings to mind The Spy Who Loved Me, there are definitely similarities. There was another cool Bondian touch in the form of a female assassin who works for diamonds. She was actually much more interesting to me than the main villain, who is pretty much a non-entity. Brad Bird did a great job directing and the cinematography by Robert Elswit is fantastic.

I did feel like it could've been trimmed a bit here and there, and the subplot about what happened between this and 3 felt unnecessary to me, but those aren't big issues. I was very glad that there was finally no IMF traitors... Even if IMF as a whole was disavowed, at least none of them are actually guilty. Next time, I'm hoping for no traitors and no disavowals.

 

[Anita18]

Ghost Protocol is a lot of fun. A large scope, lots of humor, tons of gadgets, a villain out to reboot the world by instigating nuclear war. It really brings to mind The Spy Who Loved Me, there are definitely similarities. There was another cool Bondian touch in the form of a female assassin who works for diamonds. She was actually much more interesting to me than the main villain, who is pretty much a non-entity. Brad Bird did a great job directing and the cinematography by Robert Elswit is fantastic.

I did feel like it could've been trimmed a bit here and there, and the subplot about what happened between this and 3 felt unnecessary to me, but those aren't big issues. I was very glad that there was finally no IMF traitors... Even if IMF as a whole was disavowed, at least none of them are actually guilty. Next time, I'm hoping for no traitors and no disavowals.

Granted, when the Ethan almost catches the bad guy and rips off his mask...

Spoiler

..at first glance I swore it was Josh Holloway. I thought I had these movies figured out!

 

[OddBob]

That was a troubling moment, when that mask ripped I did think they had done the IMF traitor story yet again.

 

[quara33]

Saw this one in San Francisco (which was hilarious because we all recognized the geography about five seconds before we were supposed to)

I think the last movie I thoroughly enjoyed like this one was Iron Man 1--great mix of action and comedy, and a fantastic cast. I had a lot of faith in Brad Bird, but he totally blew my expectations out of the water.

Re: Brad Bird

Oh yes. He's perfect for Marvel.

Oh absolutely! Especially if they did an 'Agents of SHEILD' movie or something like that.

Incidentally, I would love to see Pegg and Renner work together again--they had ridiculously hilarious timing.

 

[flickchick85]

I agree. Brings it back to the question - who should it be next?

Assuming he doesn't sign right on to begin working on Avengers 2, I think Joss Whedon would be a great fit for an installment of this franchise, considering his knack for ensembles and natural comic book-y tendencies. Plus, he and J.J. Abrams (who's still a producer on this franchise along side Cruise) seem to have some sort of professional camaraderie thing going on, so I could see J.J. bringing him on board.

Also, look at the names they've gotten previously, people. It's always rising action "star" directors who still have things to prove - they'd never get established titans like Chris Nolan, David Fincher, Spielberg etc who can already pretty much create any dream project they want.

 

[CelticPredator]

John Woo....Brian DePalma?

You can't tell me those were new up and comers....

 

[bullets]

Whedon's a good choice. I don't think Nolan is being considered either but if it were the case he'd be able to pull it off.

 

[CelticPredator]

Eh. Nolan isn't stylized enough. He has a style...but it's such a subtle style he's almost devoid of it.

His style is more in the story structure, and script.

This series needs someone with more visual flair. Guy Richie maybe.

 

[bullets]

What about Tony Scott?

 

[CelticPredator]

Too much style...haha.

Edgar Wright. He's the one.

 

[mistify]

movie is awesome

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I do feel the whole Russian cop on Ethan's tail was a total waste though.

 

[ceebee9000]

I do feel the whole Russian cop on Ethan's tail was a total waste though.

Somewhat. But they needed someone to embody the hostility of the Russians thinking Americans/IMF did it (him finding the jacket) but also to absolve them of that at the end.

 

[ceebee9000]

Regarding the A113: It's in the movie twice. Once when Ethan says it as a code on the phone, and again on the ring that Hanaway (Sawyer) uses to prick that guy.

Another cool Pixar connection is the voice that gives the missions this time is the voice of the Chatterphone from Toy Story 3.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

The reviews and word of mouth have me even more pumped. I think I will check this out Christmas evening with my cousins after the big family dinner.

A couple of questions for people that have seen it. Do they even mention what happens to the old team Ving Rhames etc? Also do they acknowledge that Ethan got married in MI3? That has been my minor gripe with this movies this that they don't have any sort of continuity to them. Then again, neither does the Bond films except for Quatum of Solace being a sequel to Casino Royale.

 

[Anita18]

The reviews and word of mouth have me even more pumped. I think I will check this out Christmas evening with my cousins after the big family dinner.

A couple of questions for people that have seen it. Do they even mention what happens to the old team Ving Rhames etc? Also do they acknowledge that Ethan got married in MI3? That has been my minor gripe with this movies this that they don't have any sort of continuity to them. Then again, neither does the Bond films except for Quatum of Solace being a sequel to Casino Royale.

Yes they do. Well, they don't go out in depth and answer one of your questions (not gonna tell you which one ), but they do mention it. It makes sense in the story, really, how everyone is thrown together.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

Another cool Pixar connection is the voice that gives the missions this time is the voice of the Chatterphone from Toy Story 3.

I thought that voice sounded familiar...

 

[jacobed]

Also I believe the missile you see, it's also in the trailer, that is headed right for the Pixar Building isn't it

 

[ceebee9000]

Also I believe the missile you see, it's also in the trailer, that is headed right for the Pixar Building isn't it

Well... If you see the movie... Not really. I mean PIXAR is behind IKEA on the other side of the bay, but based on what happens in the movie specifically, it wasn't quite headed there.

 

[OddBob]

Edgar Wright. He's the one.

Edgar Wright was on the "wish list" for Ghost Protocol, as was Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland).

Some big name directors have had near misses with this franchise. I think Oliver Stone was up for both the first and second, and worked on an idea that would've had a sentient super-computer convincing the world that IMF were villains. Ang Lee was apparently up for a M:I at a time when the script was about terrorists destroying the seven wonders of the world.

I think Joe Carnahan ended up using some of his ideas for III, like privatized military villains, in The A-Team. I was always really intrigued by the David Fincher plot dealing with the black market sale of body parts in Africa.

 

[terry78]

That sentient computer thing honestly would have been right at home as an actual episode of the show.

 

[CelticPredator]

I like the body part thing...sounds interesting.