Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Directed by: Brad Bird
Premise: The fourth film in the series. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team are framed for a bombing at the Kremlin and must clear their names before the terrorists attack again.
What Works: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was directed by Brad Bird whose filmography primarily consists of animated films, namely The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles movies. Compared to his three predecessors, Bird’s contribution to the Mission: Impossible series is less obvious. The trajectory of the series suggests that the producers were narrowing the creative possibilities and honing a house style for the franchise. But Ghost Protocol complements Bird’s Incredibles films. Just as The Incredibles was about a superhuman family making their way in a world that has outlawed superheroes, Ghost Protocol focuses on the team and how they pull together when the IMF is disbanded. That plot twist raises the stakes. Most spy films provide the hero with a bottomless supply of resources. Handicapping the team’s assets makes the story more interesting. Ghost Protocol also introduces a nuclear threat, a premise the series would repeat again and again. Ghost Protocol brings forward the supporting characters, especially the team members played by Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, and Paula Patton. They all participate in the story, making this about a team. The dissolution of the IMF, the stakes of nuclear destruction, and the emphasis on teamwork coalesce in a way that justifies and defines the Mission: Impossible series. The IMF exists on the justification that there are threats that only this team can resolve and Ghost Protocol makes that case better than any other installment of the series. Ghost Protocol is not nearly as frantic as Mission: Impossible III but it has some great action scenes. This installment began the trend that would become one of the defining features of the series: a death-defying practical set piece in which Tom Cruise did his own stunts. In this case, Cruise’s character scales the outside of a skyscraper. It’s an extraordinary set piece, one of the best of the series.
What Doesn’t: The one aspect of Ghost Protocol this is disappointing is the disregard for Ethan Hunt’s wife (Michelle Monaghan). She was a central part of Mission: Impossible III and tossing her aside betrays the previous film and the audience’s investment in that character and in that relationship. Marginalizing the wife also misses opportunities for an original story that would develop the characters. We eventually get the truth behind her disappearance and that had the potential to be a compelling story that would have been a unique Mission: Impossible adventure and paid off what was set up in the previous film. Instead, the resolution of the marital story comes across as a copout and an excuse to introduce a new female lead.
Disc extras: The Blu-Ray release includes featurettes, deleted scenes, and trailers.
Bottom Line: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol comes very close to maximizing the potential of this series. It has all the conventions that define the series but it also contains many of the best examples of those tropes. Ghost Protocol may fumble the storylines of its predecessor but this is an excellent standalone Mission: Impossible feature.
Episode: #371 (January 8, 2012); Revised #1049 (May 25, 2025)