MISSION IMPOSSIBLE -- GHOST PROTOCOL

Tom Cruise goes climbing

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE -- GHOST PROTOCOL (2011). Director: Brad Bird.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) of the Impossible Missions Force invades the Kremlin with his associates to obtain a nuclear control device, but a terrorist named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) beats him to it and sets off an explosion to cover up the theft to boot. Now Hunt and his group have to get the device back from Nyqvist and his associates before he can use it to set off a missile capable of devastating destruction. The best scene in the movie -- which unfortunately occurs at the midway point and not at the climax -- has Hunt climbing a skyscraper at 130 floors [for some contrived reason] with the seamless special effects making it seem as if Cruise himself is up there with no protective netting [sure!]. Cruise is fine as an action hero; Simon Pegg, Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner play the team members adeptly; and Lea Seydoux makes an impression as an evil if attractive assassin. [Patton and Deydoux have a rousing cat fight at one point.] Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol  is exciting, well-directed and quite well done for the most part, but ultimately it's a fairly standard spy movie with mostly unmemorable characters.

Verdict: Absurd but entertaining. ***.