Mission Impossible 4: When Tom Cruise made us dizzy

The release of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Count Part 1” is fast approaching. Finally, after many postponements due to COVID. Await Ethan Hunt’s return to cinema, inviting you to revisit his previous opus, from the staging style to the themes, highlights.

• Mission Impossible: When Tom Cruise first breathed on us
• Mission Impossible 2: When Tom Cruise rode a motorcycle without legs
• Mission Impossible 3: When Tom Cruise met the saga’s best villain

A booster shot session continues with the fourth episode, signed by Brad Bird, where Tom Cruise makes a big comeback with a dizzying stunt – SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Tom Cruise almost never got used to this mission. Not out of will, but because Paramount broke the exclusivity contract that bound them in August 2006, no doubt to pay the star for Mission: Impossible III’s disappointing box office results and the promotion he vamped up with more talk. about his personal life rather than a JJ Abrams feature film.

Despite being a producer, the actor then lost the rights to the saga, which was rumored to be Brad Pitt’s new hero. But things did not take off until May 2008, when the reconciliation hypothesis began to circulate. It will materialize in two stages: after one year, then at the end of March 2010, when the director will be chosen.

Exit JJ Abrams, who still remains in production, and make way for Brad Bird. For Baptism of Fire, as it was the first live-action feature film from this Pixar landmark. From a world of animation where nothing seems impossible, the director will apply the same principle to the feature film as his Incredibles.

At a Glance: Instead of treating his superhero story as espionage, his spies become superheroes. One in particular. Because with Ghost Protocol is established forever what appears today as one of the trademarks of the franchise, namely those moments when Tom Cruise cheats death, alone and without the use of special effects. Digital.

That’s why, at 828 meters, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest tower in the world, is trying to literally allow Ethan Hunt to reach the top. When it was announced that Ghost Protocol would be the first Hollywood film shot in the United Arab Emirates, the hypothesis of seeing Tom Cruise climb the building returned to the press as a joke.

While the photos of this dizzying shooting of the star were erected at a height of several hundred meters. A true destiny that goes beyond the limits of the impossible and captures the heart of the action. More so than the return of Simon Pegg to the cast or the arrival of Jeremy Renner, whose studio at the time wanted a new hero of the saga to replace the current star, who was considered aging.

An idea that still makes me smile today. Because the Oscar-nominated actor was never able to match Tom Cruise in Mine. And perhaps that’s why his character William Brandt, who was introduced interestingly, then faded into the background until Dead Reckoning after Fallout was marked by his absence without detracting from the narrative.

But we’ll come back to that later, and it was one of the highlights of Ghost Protocol back then. A film that, like its predecessor, takes Ethan and his team around the world, from the Kremlin in Moscow to Mumbai, via Dubai. So many places where Brad Bird uses his virtuosity to create a thrilling adventure with cartoon accents in both his humor and situations.

“It’s not like each mission is going to be harder than the last, is it?”

Between the inaugural escape in a Russian prison, Hanaway’s (Josh Holloway) inflatable mattress that instantly deflates, the infiltration of the Kremlin thanks to a screen showing what the guard sees, the finale in the mobile parking lot or even the famous climb. From the Burj Khalifa, from which Sabine Moreau (Léa Seydoux) falls like a Looney Tunes coyote after a fierce fight with Jane Carter (Paula Patton), Brad Bird repeatedly gives us the impression that he is present for long animated shots directed by flesh-and-blood characters.

A bias that agrees with the physical evolution of Ethan Hunt’s character, for whom the word “impossible” It doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore, even if greeted with uncertainty and/or a smile from the partners, a great relay for the audience.

Keeping with the team concept that JJ Abrams revived after Mission: Impossible II’s Solo, Ghost Protocol instills a lot of tenderness and camaraderie among the members Hunt has assembled, so much so that the small group reminds us of the Parr family. Unthinkable, less superpowers.

Brad Bird thus adopts the formula set by his predecessor and some codes of the saga, masks in mind, but raises his spectacular side a few notches, multiplying the parts of bravery. With the most limited possible use of digital effects, this allowed the film to age well and maintain its freshness while watching, where John Woo’s film would have dated more quickly to stay true to its time. post Matrix.

As in the opus released in 2000, Ethan Hunt becomes a superhero again and once again devotes himself to the joy of climbing. But Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol does not ignore his human side, and thus integrates us more into the story, or Jane’s desire to avenge the death of Hannaway, which happened in the first scene.

Except Benjy in charge of the party “comedy” Despite their evolution and their importance in the finale, each member of the team harbors wounds and secrets. Especially Brandt, a CIA analyst with slightly overdeveloped combat skills and whose past helps make the hero a tragic figure.

A ghost (protocol) story

He is indeed connected to his wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan), who we are told before her death is still alive, in hiding, and that her husband must refuse to see her in order to better protect her and prevent her from being targeted.

Thus, Ethan loses one of the few links that connects him to the real world when he really can no longer rely on the IMF, whose agents are rejected after the attack on the Kremlin, which finally begins the story. Therefore, the mission goes smoothly, and we wonder if we should not see a connection with the fact that, despite their reconciliation, Tom Cruise and Paramount continue to revive the saga, but no longer work together, only as before.

Even if the character has always had problems with the authorities, we have to admit that the coincidence seems great. Especially in the career of an actor who has always defined himself through his films. The same goes for his first appearance, from behind and in the half-light of a prison cell, where the character “hidden” After he arranged his wife’s death.

Far less sanctimonious than in the first and second opus, Tom Cruise here seems to return to his toes and lie before conquering his world: first by mixing the humor and action of the prison escape scene, and then surpasses it. himself and shows the XXL investment to invite us “Rethinking the Impossible”As one of the trailers says.

A recapture operation that’s paying off after grossing $694.7 million worldwide, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was the franchise’s highest-grossing opus until Fallout overtook it. And it’s very often back on the podium when it comes to episode ratings, despite a forgettable villain and a less compelling narrative than one might think.

Directed by Brad Bird, as well as daringly redesigned credits by Michael Giacchino, the feature film is still stronger visually and telling its story than it is on a thematic level, much lighter than its predecessors. .

Still, it’s a fun and high-flying entertainer that allows its star to return to the heights, both literally and figuratively, and ends with a smile before disappearing in a puff of smoke. In the scope of the saga, it is also very important in setting the standard that the following opus will try to surpass, and Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter who works here as the script doctor, is going to take the lead.

Previous Episodes:

• Mission Impossible: When Tom Cruise first breathed on us
• Mission Impossible 2: When Tom Cruise rode a motorcycle under his feet
• Mission Impossible 3: When Tom Cruise met the saga’s best villain

Next episode: When Tom Cruise took a plane not like everyone else