Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol - Part 1

[chesslover]

Mission Accomplished!

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Incredible action, but the last ten minutes were soooooo corny.
The Dubai scenes were really well done - I actually felt like I was going to fall.

 

[Rocketman]

*SPOILERIFIC REVIEW*


I love this series . . . but this 4th movie was just average for me. I give it a 6/10.

My biggest problem was the score. It was never "high-stakes" or "dark", but rather light-hearted and cartoony. It was too bubbly, and never really gave me a sense of things being important. The other films' music never gave me that vibe. And yes, I know that Michael Giacchino did M:I-3 as well, but that movie had moments (and in the score) where it felt like the stakes were incredibly high. This is a great example of how music can make or break a movie. The last time a score killed an experience for me was Terminator Salvation.

This movie literally had nuclear missiles about to destroy the planet, and I never got a sense of "Oh crap, I hope Cruise stops it in time!"

PROS:

- Simon Pegg is always fun to watch.
- Tom Cruise is always awesome in my book.
- Paula Patton is smoking hot.
- I loved the sandstorm sequence.
- I loved the multiple-car/finale fight sequence.
- I loved the Dubai tower sequence.

CONS:

- The CGI was not so great. Especially the Kremlin blowing up. It looked like a Pixar movie (*ahem*)
- Josh Holloway was wasted.
- Ving Rhames was nowhere to be found except for 30 seconds.
- There was no point in having Michelle Monaghan in this. None of that mattered at all. Who cares?
- Hi Tom Wilkinson! You're awesome! Oh, just kidding. You're dead.
- Jeremy Renner's magnetic floating scene was a rip-off of Inception.
- Everything in India (including that leader) was completely stupid.
- The potentially awesome main villain was never fleshed out properly. Wasted opportunity. I never felt intimidated by him.

It was just an overall disappointing experience. It wasn't a terrible movie, and by no means the worst movie I've ever seen, but the whole thing just felt like it was . . . there. I was indifferent to it. This is 2011 now. When you make a big Hollywood action movie, it needs to trump the other ones that came before it. It shouldn't be more of the same.

 

[The Morningstar]

There was a reason for Michelle Monaghan to be in it. It shows that Ethan has accepted that he can't have a relationship, that his whole life has to be the spy game. Plus she's hot.

How was Renner's magnetic floating scene a rip off of Inception? So anything with zero gravity is a rip off of Inception now.

 

[Anita18]

There was a reason for Michelle Monaghan to be in it. It shows that Ethan has accepted that he can't have a relationship, that his whole life has to be the spy game. Plus she's hot.

How was Renner's magnetic floating scene a rip off of Inception? So anything with zero gravity is a rip off of Inception now.

I thought it was an homage to the first MI movie where he couldn't touch the ground.

And the music was lighthearted because the movie itself was lighthearted. Basically it was The Incredibles without any of the political connotations - it was just fun. Not every action movie has to be oh-so-serious.

 

[Rocketman]

I thought it was an homage to the first MI movie where he couldn't touch the ground.

And the music was lighthearted because the movie itself was lighthearted. Basically it was The Incredibles without any of the political connotations - it was just fun. Not every action movie has to be oh-so-serious.

It has to be serious enough for us to give a damn. For my money, anyway.

 

[flickchick85]

John Woo....Brian DePalma?

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

I said AFTER the 1st one. That's when Cruise took over with this "action style exercise" concept. And yes, I stand by my point - John Woo may have been a movie god in his home country, but he was far from a Hollywood titan who could make any movie he wanted (ala Nolan, Spielberg, Fincher, etc.) Hell, he wasn't even Abrams-level. At the point he was brought on to this franchise, his biggest hit was Face Off, which was a hit, not a mega-hit, and a lot of its success was attributed to the unique performances of its stars. M:I2 was and remains the biggest movie he's ever made.

And I didn't say anything about the choices being "new" or "up-and-comers." I said rising stars in the action genre with something to prove. I know they sound similar, but the difference is big - Brad Bird was already established as a master storyteller, but he obviously had a lot to prove here. As did Abrams making the transition from TV, and as did Woo working with a true blockbuster budget (over $100m) and Hollywood franchise for the first time.

The reason I mention Whedon despite his big "something to prove" moment already happening with Avengers, is that, like Abrams, I think he's gonna need that one-two-punch of great franchise pictures if he wants to put himself into the top tier of genre filmmakers (ala Abrams with M:I3 and Star Trek). If he could pull that off, he'd be a household name and have Hollywood eating out of the palm of his hand. The guy is crazy inventive and I would LOVE to see him get a chance to give some of his original ideas a real budget (like Nolan eventually got with Inception).

 

[protocida]

I remember that Thandie Newton was supposed to return as Nyah Hall in the third movie as Ethan's wife, but was cut because she was pregnant and couldn't commit to the shooting. The character was divided into Michelle Monaghan's Julia and a IMF agent called Leah Quint, to be played by Carrie Ann-Moss, but she was ultimately cut as well.

Ian McKellen was also supposed to be Swanbeck in the second movie, but couldn't commit because of scheduling conflicts and Anthony Hopkins replaced him.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

Incredible action, but the last ten minutes were soooooo corny..

I thought it was touching...

 

[SuperSoldier985]

*SPOILERIFIC REVIEW*


I love this series . . . but this 4th movie was just average for me. I give it a 6/10.

My biggest problem was the score. It was never "high-stakes" or "dark", but rather light-hearted and cartoony. It was too bubbly, and never really gave me a sense of things being important. The other films' music never gave me that vibe. And yes, I know that Michael Giacchino did M:I-3 as well, but that movie had moments (and in the score) where it felt like the stakes were incredibly high. This is a great example of how music can make or break a movie. The last time a score killed an experience for me was Terminator Salvation.

This movie literally had nuclear missiles about to destroy the planet, and I never got a sense of "Oh crap, I hope Cruise stops it in time!"

PROS:

- Simon Pegg is always fun to watch.
- Tom Cruise is always awesome in my book.
- Paula Patton is smoking hot.
- I loved the sandstorm sequence.
- I loved the multiple-car/finale fight sequence.
- I loved the Dubai tower sequence.

CONS:

- The CGI was not so great. Especially the Kremlin blowing up. It looked like a Pixar movie (*ahem*)
- Josh Holloway was wasted.
- Ving Rhames was nowhere to be found except for 30 seconds.
- There was no point in having Michelle Monaghan in this. None of that mattered at all. Who cares?
- Hi Tom Wilkinson! You're awesome! Oh, just kidding. You're dead.
- Jeremy Renner's magnetic floating scene was a rip-off of Inception.
- Everything in India (including that leader) was completely stupid.
- The potentially awesome main villain was never fleshed out properly. Wasted opportunity. I never felt intimidated by him.

It was just an overall disappointing experience. It wasn't a terrible movie, and by no means the worst movie I've ever seen, but the whole thing just felt like it was . . . there. I was indifferent to it. This is 2011 now. When you make a big Hollywood action movie, it needs to trump the other ones that came before it. It shouldn't be more of the same.

I think you're wrong on many accounts.

I'll just say one thing---most of your complaints about this movie seem to be related to your overall expectations and personal preferences, which you can't necessarily hold against the movie.

 

[Van Petrol]

Saw this yesterday, absolutely loved it. All the action scenes /sequences were brilliantly executed and played out.

Oh and Paula Patton.

 

[protocida]

What could have been.

Mission: Impossible.

There were two Scripts that the studio didn't like, one of them featuring the cast of the Mission: Impossible TV show being eliminated one by one by the villains, and a new team being sent to avenge them. The original cast was offered cameos, but refused because they didn't want to see their characters be killed off.

Peter Graves was offered the role of Jim Phelps, but refused when he discovered Phelps was going to be a traitor. Jon Voight replaced him. In addition, the character "Max", played by Vanessa Redgrave, was originally a man.

Mission: Impossible II.

Oliver Stone was considered to direct, with a plot centered on a sentient supercomputer that framed the IMF as an international criminal organization, but the concept was dropped.

Several drafts were written in order to accomodate the action scenes that John Wood had envisioned. Because of this, Thandie Newton and Dougray Scott lost roles in other movies. The latter, by example, missed out playing Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men. The delays caused Tom Cruise and John Woo to clash, but they ended production on good terms.

Ian McKellen was set to play Mission Commander Swanbeck, but scheduling conflicts forced him to be replaced by Anthony Hopkins.

Mission: Impossible III.

Ang Lee was considered to direct, with a plot centered on Ethan Hunt and his team chasing after an ex-girlfriend of Ethan that was destroying the Seven World Wonders in order to attract his attention, causing tensions between China and Russia that could escalate into World War III. This was intented as a prequel to Mission: Impossible and would bring back Emilio Estevez as IMF technician Jack Harmon, but the idea was dropped. This Script included a scene with a small aircraft crashing into the Statue of Liberty.

Oliver Stone was considered to direct again, but refused, and was later replaced by David Fincher, with a plot centered on human body parts trafficking in Africa. This Script included Ethan Hunt getting married, a speedboat chase on the Zambezi river and a secondary villain in the form of a private military force. Fincher eventually refused, and Joe Carnahan was chosen to direct, with Scarlett Johansson as Hunt's love interest and Kenneth Branagah as the main villain, but the project was put on hold when Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds was greenlit.

When it returned, the Script was reworked by director J.J. Abrams, with Thandie Newton intented to return as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, but she dropped out due to her pregnancy. Her character was divided into Julia Meade, played by Michelle Monaghan, and Leah Quint, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, who was eventually completelly cut from the Script.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

Intented as a reboot of the franchise, and only called Ghost Protocol for a long time, when the studio believed people would be turned off by a new Tom Cruise movie. They even considered replacing Cruise with a new veteran agent played by Brad Pitt.

Edgar Wright and Reuben Flescher were considered to direct after J.J. Abrams decided to remain only as a producer to direct Super 8.

Anthony Mackie, Kevin Zegers, Chris Egan and Chris Pine were considered for the role of William Brandt.

Kristin Kreuk and Lauren Germain were considered for the role of Jane Carter.

Ving Rhames originally had a bigger role as Luther Stickell, but dropped out due to salary problems.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Interesting... good thing they didn't go with those ideas for 3 and Ghost Protocol.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

Tom Cruise must have to dip himself into a Lazarus Pit between takes...

 

[Doctor Jones]

A girl blowing up the Seven Wonders of the World all to get his attention? God, that's horrible. That is one needy *****.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

 

[TX85]

Finally got to see this and I feel it's the best in the series,Tom Cruise shows his age But still has it in him!!

The story is simple But effective and not every movie of this type&even in the series has to be so serious&complex like the first one,I even felt this was the closest movie to the TV show yet!!

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

A girl blowing up the Seven Wonders of the World all to get his attention? God, that's horrible. That is one needy *****.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

I love how one review refers to Paula Patton as an ethnically ambiguous Jennifer Garner...

 

[Symbiotic]

What could have been.

Mission: Impossible II.

Oliver Stone was considered to direct, with a plot centered on a sentient supercomputer that framed the IMF as an international criminal organization.

Flashbacks to Universal Soldier: The Return.

 

[protocida]

The government's computer is Michael Jai White.

Your argument is invalid.

 

[Quasimod0]

Just saw this. GREAT film. I loved every bit of it. If there was any corniness it was fun corniness. It was a really fun film

 

[SentinelMind]

6/10
The film was good...but everything about the film gave off "been there done that" feel to me. I thought Mission Impossible 3 was better, in my opinion...had a stronger villain. I didn't really like that comedian/techie sidekick all that much. The action sequences were ok (skyscraper good but short...the sand storm chase was alright). Paula Patton was effin hot, though.

 

[GregComicFan]

Just saw this movie...

Thought it was great. My only comment to add is:

Anyone notice how the main villain had NO HENCHMEN (except the one bearded guy)... but otherwise the main villain flew solo, something rare for big screen action movie arch bad guys!!!

Spoiler

He even posed as his only henchmen in the Dubai sequence... further showing that he doesn't trust henchmen and he flies solo

Yeah, so no henchmen. Interesting... a rarity, indeed.

 

[SentinelMind]

Just saw this movie...

Thought it was great. My only comment to add is:

Anyone notice how the main villain had NO HENCHMEN (except the one bearded guy)... but otherwise the main villain flew solo, something rare for big screen action movie arch bad guys!!!

Spoiler

He even posed as his only henchmen in the Dubai sequence... further showing that he doesn't trust henchmen and he flies solo

Yeah, so no henchmen. Interesting... a rarity, indeed.

Meh....I felt the villain was wasted. This film felt like "Quantum of Solace" of the Mission Impossible franchise....ok, but nothing all that memorable and lacking a cinematic villain.