[5]

Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) picks up the directing reigns for the fourth Mission: Impossible movie and delivers an entry on par with the series’ mediocre track record. This time around Cruise and yet another new ensemble of co-spies (why can’t more of these people stick around for more than one movie?) are trying to stop a radical revolutionary from stealing Russian nuke codes and launching an attack on the United States. While the stakes are certainly high, Ghost Protocol unfortunately runs out of steam just as it enters its weak third act.

The best sequences come earlier, when Cruise and Simon Pegg sneak into the Kremlin to steal the nuke codes before the bad guy can, and when Cruise has to climb the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai). That harrowing tower climb, which Cruise performed without a stunt player, is the biggest nailbiter in any Mission: Impossible movie. It’s followed immediately by a nice chase sequence in a sandstorm. If only these movies were as good as the sum of their parts.

Cruise is reliably charismatic, though he doesn’t seem to be having as much fun here as in previous entries. Jeremy Renner makes a good addition to the cast as an agency administrative drawn into the action — and harboring a secret that gives the film a sliver of dramatic depth. Pegg, as the only returning member of the supporting cast, brings much needed humor and levity to the proceedings. Paula Patton rounds out Cruise’s spy team, but don’t look to her for screen presence or a memorable performance. She’s there to provide cleavage more than anything else. Even though the film is middling overall, director Bird proves he can direct live-action just as competently as he can direct animation.

With Lea Seydoux and an uncredited Tom Wilkinson.