By Coleman Armes

Staff Writer

As I sat down to watch the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, I expected something great. Based on the reviews the movie was getting from not only critics, but also from my friends, I just assumed this would be the best Mission Impossible yet.

When the credits started to roll, however, I left thinking the movie was good, but certainly did not meet my expectations.

The plot is once again about saving the world. This time, the Kremlin has been bombed and the Impossible Mission Force is being falsely accused of the act. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team must prove the IMF innocent and stop the enemy from starting a nuclear war that could kill everyone.

The acting is good as always. An aged Tom Cruise still has that element he brings to all of his movies and played his part perfectly. The other three on his team do a fantastic job as well. Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) adds the comedy to an otherwise intense film and Jane Carter (Paula Patton) does a great job in her role as the only woman on this four-person team who will not take anything from anybody. The most impressive performance, however, is that of up-and-coming actor Jeremy Renner who has been in movies such as The Hurt Locker and The Town. In this film, Renner plays assistant William Brandt, a man with a haunting past who joins the team. He amps up the seriousness and intensity of the movie in a way only he can.

The effects and scenery are astonishing. An action scene involving the Burj Khalifa Hotel in Dubai is definitely one to be remembered. The film is shot in many other fascinating areas around the world, keeping the viewer wondering where the team might end up next. The gadgets and effects used are phenomenal. I do not think I have ever seen so much technology used in an action movie of this kind. The Kremlin scene in the movie really maximized the effects that are now available to filmmakers.

However, as I said before, the movie is not great but just OK. This is due to a few aspects which include believability, corniness and the pace of the movie.

I am sorry, but Cruise hits his head way too many times in action scenes throughout this movie to still be alive. I know a lot of aspects in movies like this are not meant to be completely believable, but I can not be too excited with the outcome when Cruise should have died long before the movie ended.

Also, I expect a movie like this to be serious with some comedy mixed in. Although the actors did their part, I feel as if the writers do an injustice to this movie by putting in many corny lines and trying too hard to make this movie more intense than it needs to be with some of the dialogue they put in.

Lastly, the pace is much too fast, especially in the beginning. This movie is quite long by today’s standards at 2 hours and 10 minutes and has a lot of ground to cover in regards to the plotline, so I get the sense the filmmakers tried to rush through to make sure the movie was not so long that it lost the viewer’s interest. However, it seemed in the first hour they would start to develop one scene and then completely move on to the next scene assuming that the audience could fill in the blanks. This really hurts the overall plot of the movie.

In the end, I say unless you are a big fan of the Mission Impossible series, wait until this movie comes out on DVD. Who knows though, maybe you will completely disagree with me and think it is incredible. The movie hints at maybe another Mission Impossible coming out in the future, so be on the lookout for that.