Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

[CaptainZombie]

Surprised there was no thread for this movie and it was lumped in the MI movies thread. Fairly excited for this one, it looks very good.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V0LQnQSrC-g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Blzer]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

LOL I bumped the other thread when I was creating a new thread for this and saw that it existed. Wanted to save myself the embarrassment of getting a new one closed.

At any rate, like I said in the other thread, 100% out of 19 reviews so far on RT. Sounds like a great film, and I have two free tickets to boot!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_ghost_protocol/

[trobinson97]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Yep, definitely want to see this.

[Beantown]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I want to see the six minute preview before this.

I'm undecided on whether or not I will stay for this movie. It doesn't interest me at all, but it almost looks good enough to watch.

[JayBee74]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Like this series, and this one looks really good.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I cant freakin wait for this.

[Blzer]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Just got back from seeing it. First of all, for those who are seeing it in a regular/digital theater and want to see a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, I was two minutes late from the screening time, so unless it was the first one to show and I missed it, no such trailer existed for me. Sorry to report that perhaps unfortunate news.

As for the movie itself, it was good, though I think I'll hold the third film closest to me in likable value. As far as story, you might disservice yourself slightly if you haven't seen the third one. There are elements and styles that very much resemble M:I II in some ways, and when they worked, they worked well. For instance, the stealth/dialogue-driven objective scenes made for some pretty tense cinematic moments, something that was completely missing in the third film. We get to see more Tom Cruise acrobatics again as well, finally.

The characters that we stick with are all well liked, but the villainous side of things wasn't really all that memorable. In fact, since so much of it involves jumping from country to country, from language to language, and from objective to objective, there were some set pieces that were a bit more difficult to follow than they could have been.

Brad Bird is one of Pixar's directors, and as far as I have seen, he has done very well in the animation department. His transition into live action film was noble, and at times not very subtle. I thought Abrams did a better job, but Bird did well with not having to keep the camera on the ground. Some shots, particularly in Dubai, were quite breathtaking.

The one thing I didn't like about this film was the [wait for it] impossibility of it all, and I mean that in the physical department. Yeah, there sure is a whole bunch of unbelievability in all of the films like the first film's train & helicopter chase, the second film's motorcycle chase... but I like how the third film was a bit more grounded. Sure, Cruise unhooks handcuffs with a pen and swings off one building and onto another, but it's not without defying certain laws of gravity and such. In this movie, it was more about "How did he not die?" kind of scenarios. Eventually, you kind of let go of why moments earlier in the film seemed so much more dangerous, when they were just much smaller moments overall.

Though, in saying that, I would be undervaluing the action scenes in this film, which were top-notch. Should one be able to suspend disbelief, this is a great action film, and the fact that Tom Cruise does his own stunts in it just helps the cause.

By the way, seeing Jeremy Renner in this made me see him as more than just a cocky midget. Not to say I haven't liked him in the past, but there were some roles I thought he could not do, that I now think he is more than capable of doing. I have restored my faith in him as carrying the Bourne legacy in The Bourne Legacy.

[JayBee74]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

This one is not showing in the New Orleans Metro area.

[Blzer]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Two free tickets, two free viewings. Saw a matinee again earlier today.

Since I kind of understood where the movie would jump from one scene to another, I spent more time picking up on every dialogue instance, small moments, etc. Within the film's linearity is a nice layer of depth that branches all three previous M:I films into this one. I can't really go into anything in massive detail without providing spoilers (in which case, I normally wait for others to spark a spoiler discussion for me to finally jump into), but I'm glad those moments were in the film, because it could otherwise feel slightly more detachable than the other films had ever been.

The male trio cast really did deliver on this one. Cruise, Pegg, and Renner won't come home with any Oscars, but they didn't play their parts like they were half-asleep either. Not that there was too much of anything on an emotional scale to really evaluate them by, but even in an action movie you can still weed out the good acting from the bad.

Again, the thing that brought this movie past M:I III were the tense moments, the ones that didn't particularly need any action to keep you on the edge of your seat. The downside, while the action was superb, was that "Oh no he didn't" kind of portrayal for each time something goofy happened, though that wouldn't be the first time in M:I history we've had to say that either.

This one is not showing in the New Orleans Metro area.

It's funny that you mention that, because I was looking for show times at my closest theater, and wondered why they didn't bother advertising it at all. I had to go to my next closest theater to see it, and even there it was only on the Cinema XD screen. Everything gave way to the new Chipmunks movie.

Either that, or they're trying to boost sales by pushing people toward the more expensive screenings. Keep supply low, raise demand high, fix rate of income above normal.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

This looks pretty good.......

[roadman]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Interesting, only 2.5 stars in our paper.

[JayBee74]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Interesting, only 2.5 stars in our paper.

Very interesting. A staggering 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (113 Fresh, 6 Rotten).

[Beantown]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Very interesting. A staggering 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (113 Fresh, 6 Rotten).

Did not expect that at all.

[Blzer]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Very interesting. A staggering 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (113 Fresh, 6 Rotten).

Keep in mind that doesn't mean that the film is a 9.5/10. Technically, a movie like From Paris With Love could get 100% on RT just because every reviewer liked it enough to give it a fresh tomato.

That said, 2.5/4 is also a fresh tomato according to the RT scoring, so it was at least "positive enough" in their eyes as well. I would rather go on the ten-point scale with my scores (add a decimal point for good measure when needed), but whenever I leave movie impressions, it's tough to just put a "number" on it, because now it's automatically compared to anything that I ranked a bit lower or a bit higher, and I can't always say that ends up being a movie I like more or less than the other simply because of its number.

It's a great blockbuster film, though. If it means anything (and if it helps you decide what you like more), M:I III was more about the movie staying within itself, and this film engages with the audience more with one-liners here and there, things that will make the crowd "ooo" and "ahh," etc. There is also some Brad Bird shtick and banter thrown in there, and it makes for great entertainment on the first viewing, but those normally become shallow points when you want to watch it over and over. In short, the replay value is one reason I'd probably prefer M:I III over Ghost Protocol, but IMO both of them are much better than the rather boring M:I and absurd M:I II. Still a fresh tomato any day of the week, though.

[JayBee74]

Re: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

It's funny that you mention that, because I was looking for show times at my closest theater, and wondered why they didn't bother advertising it at all. I had to go to my next closest theater to see it, and even there it was only on the Cinema XD screen. Everything gave way to the new Chipmunks movie.

Either that, or they're trying to boost sales by pushing people toward the more expensive screenings. Keep supply low, raise demand high, fix rate of income above normal.

I take that back.It's showing at one theater in this area (IMAX). That search lead me to the movie's website which states that it's Now playing in IMAX and select theaters. In theaters everywhere December 21st.