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The average screenplay by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemeck claims "every 2000 years, the universe is destroyed and then begins again as part of evolution". And though the Soviet Union has been long since dismembered, it is still Hollywood’s old, old enemy. The film, which opens in Budapest, goes to Russia, the Kremlin and other countries and guess what, even Mumbai, spelt the Thackeray way to pick Anil Kapoor in a fleeting role towards the end of a marathon 160-odd minutes. May be, because he is also producer he rustles enough enthusiasm to climb glass-faced skyscrapers, run like the marathon man and perform all kinds of acrobatics that would do a 20-year-old proud. As for the staccato action, it makes James Bond look like Sunday School stuff with everything you asked and some you never imagined. Also, a catfight.
In a futuristic world where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been shut down, his team is made up of Benji (Simon Pegg), Brandt (Jeremy Runner), Hendricks (Michael Nyquist) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton), a comely female, who has to grapple with the villain (Lea Seydoux), whose entry is very dramatic but then is off stage for most of the film. At the end of the day, the fare is somewhat simplistic and the solutions unconvincing, but that’s quite another story. Director Brad Bird (for a fleeting moment, thought it might be Brad Pitt) has plenty of scope to indulge in graphic violence but quite rightly doesn’t make a meal of it. Well spaced, the action is dotted with humour and snatches of romance with Paula Patton slowly revealing cleavage as also her acting prowess. But it is the cameos by the supporting cast, especially Simon Pegg that keep the attention span going in its somewhat duller moments. Anil Kapoor, looking dapper as the millionaire Brig Nath hosts a gala party at the Taj in Mumbai, glitterati et al. But the absence of a real-life villain, which one can identify with, is a major omission. How that went unnoticed is hard to believe but, then, stranger things have taken place on celluloid, haven’t they? Still, as things go, and they really go at a breakneck speed, it cannot be faulted for the action and visual razzle-dazzlery and cameraman Robert Elswit must be commended. Paul Hirsch’s resounding orchestral music (in the beginning) also embellishes this not-to-be-missed action extravaganza.
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WELL,
very much like a Cruise missile. Tom Cruise, alias Ethan Hunt, keeps
his nose to the grindstone in the fourth edition of his Impossible
series Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and not surprisingly
enough, he has a global nuclear war to avert. Most of the time, he
goes alone though he is given a team to work with.
