Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (12A)

When the Mission Impossible Team is implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, Ethan Hunt, and the return of Tom Cruise to the role, goes deeper undercover with his team to prevent an all out nuclear war. It is a surprise to see the happily married agent, after the third Mission Impossible film ended in apparent bliss, and it soon becomes obvious that something dramatic has happened to drag him back as the super efficient employee of the month.  This storyline runs through the film and adds some depth behind the dynamic action. With the aid of IT wizard and now field agent Benji Dunn, played by geeky Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead) and vengeful Jane Carter, aptly crafted by a beautiful Paula Patton (Deja Vu), Cruise strives to save the world.The Mission Impossible franchise is all about futuristic equipment and bewildering assignments and this fourth installment does not fail to deliver.  The human body is flipped and thrown in all manner of ways, and at one point Cruise swings himself around the tallest building in the world by a cord and slams in through an open window.  The action is clinical and entertaining, edged with humour and the reason why the film is at times breath taking. Michael Nyqvist, now riding high after his role in the original Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, plays the Nuclear Purist who believes that blowing up the world will bring a new peaceful dawn, a dubious motivation if there ever was one, although being a villain doesn't necessarily guarantee sensible life pursuits. But this is a role far from the measured Magazine Editor that has made him famous and he struggles to deliver.  This does not detract too much though from a very entertaining episode of MI action.

80/100