Just another day at the office.
Ethan Hunt and his team of Impossible Missions Force agents are pulling off yet another ridiculously difficult assignment (breaking into the Kremlin undetected and stealing classified documents) when things go spectacularly wrong. A nuclear extremist called Cobalt detonates a bomb that destroys the Kremlin and escapes with the codes to arm Russia’s nuclear missiles, leaving Hunt and his team to be implicated in the disaster. Disavowed and branded as terrorists, the remains of the IMF must now stop Cobalt from starting World War Three, while sorting out each other’s alliances and differences.
This is Tom Cruise’s character’s latest mission in a nutshell. But for him and Brad Bird in his live-action directorial debut, the stakes are much higher: impressing longtime fans of the franchise and upping the ante from the previous instalments.
I haven’t watched the original TV show, but I’ve seen the previous three films and enjoyed each of them for different reasons. Well, okay, M:I:2 by John Woo was kinda disappointing, but at least it was set in Sydney, my second home. And I’m a fan of Bird and his movies: the traditionally-animated classic ‘The Iron Giant’, the superhero homage ‘The Incredibles’, and the inspiring tale of a rat who became a chef, ‘Ratatouille’. And now he can add another winner to his sterling resume; this is probably my second-favourite in the series (the first is still JJ Abram’s M:I:3).
Right from the first two minutes, we are thrown into an action sequence featuring Josh Holloway from Lost and the excitement doesn’t let up, even with its lengthy running time of 2 hours. Tom is clearly in his element as the lantern-jawed hero who doesn’t quit, while Simon Pegg’s Benji gets an upgrade from techie to field agent. Rounding off the crew is Paula Patton as Jane Carter, a beautiful agent with vengeance on her mind, and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, an enigmatic analyst who shares a dark past with Hunt.
The setpieces are spectacular and brilliant; maybe it’s just me, but Bird’s experience in animation seems to have rubbed off on the film, from the spoiler-ridden ‘follow the fuse’ opening credits (unless you’ve seen the trailer), to the lifelike dust storm that swallows Dubai in one inventive chase sequence. But not surprisingly, it is the sequences sans the CGI that prove the most memorable. The standout scene of Tom scaling the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible (I was lucky to catch it at the Lido IMAX in Singapore). The sight of Tom hanging by the tips of his fingers a thousand feet above the city is enough to make the strongest of viewers sweat their palms and clench their sphincters.
Michael Giacchino has interestingly worked on the last Mission Impossible as well as two of Bird’s movies. For this outing, he brings an international flavour, with clever variations of the theme in different cultural styles – from the chorus of a Russian marching band, to the percussion-driven rhythms of Arabic music. A Dean Martin favourite of mine also features in an entertaining prison breakout sequence.
The only qualms I had was that the villains were underdeveloped. Michael Nygvist gets decent screentime as Cobalt, but doesn’t really interact with Hunt as trade a few glances and punches. Vladimir Mashkov’s Russian Agent Sidorov is tasked with bringing Hunt in, but he does little beyond show up in Hunt’s wake and being an occasional annoyance. Aniel Kapoor’s arms dealer was surprisingly the most interesting to watch, as he attempts to (unsuccessfully) seduce Carter in typical Bollywood ‘tease me-tease you’ fashion.
Another letdown was the whole ‘rogue agent’ premise that was hyped in the promos and taglines. Even though they’ve been disavowed and denied backup and support, the team still get a cache of weapons and equipment, with Benji’s incredible hacking skills coming in handy during sticky situations. It’s not like Hunt had much backup in the previous movies anyway; M:I:3’s third act was more convincing in its impromptu plans and one-man-army desperation. I was expecting something along the lines of the Bourne series or Quantum of Solace’s simplicity, but the team still gets a lot of toys to play with and convenient modes of transportation. This wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t marketed that way, so if you’re expecting a stripped-down, bare-bones spy thriller without the fancy gadgets, this would be deceptive advertising.
So is it Mission Accomplished for Bird and his team? In my opinion, a resounding yes – it’s a character piece that manages to include emotional weight without becoming angsty, it’s a good old-fashioned spy flick without being overly reliant on shakey-cam or CGI shots, and it’s another stellar entry that takes the series in a new direction while still respecting its roots. In fact, it might even contend with Fast Five for being my favourite live-action film of the year.
Now your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go see this movie and let me know what you think. Oh, and this blog post will self-destruct in 5 seconds.
P.S. Pixar fans will relish a reference to one of the studio’s inside jokes in the film. Let’s just say you’ll know it when you hear it.
