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Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
| image = Mission_impossible_ghost_protocol.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Brad Bird
| producer =
| writer =
| based_on =
| starring =
| music = Michael Giacchino
| cinematography = Robert Elswit
| editing = Paul Hirsch
| production_companies =
| distributor = Paramount Pictures
| released =
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $145 million
| gross = $694.7 million
}}
'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' is a 2011 American action spy film directed by Brad Bird (in his live-action debut) and produced by and starring Tom Cruise from a screenplay by Josh Appelbaum and Andr Nemec. It is the sequel to 'Mission: Impossible III' (2006) and is the fourth installment in the 'Mission: Impossible' film series. It also stars Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton. In 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol', the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) are shut down after being publicly implicated in a bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team to go without resources or backup in the life-threatening effort to clear their names.
Development for 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' began in August 2009, when Appelbaum and Nemec were hired to write the screenplay (which contained uncredited rewrites by eventual series director and writer Christopher McQuarrie). Cruise's return was confirmed by March 2010 after Bird was announced to replace J. J. Abrams, who directed the predecessor. The film was officially titled in October 2010, after which, principal photography took place and lasted until March 2011, with filming locations including Mumbai, Budapest, Moscow, Dubai, and Canadian Motion Picture Park Studios in Vancouver. Like previous entries in the franchise, the cast completed most of their own stunts, while parts of the film was shot in IMAX.
'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' premiered in Dubai on December 7, 2011 and was released in IMAX and select large-format theaters on December 16, before being theatrically released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 21. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the action sequences, Cruise's performance, and Bird's direction. It grossed $694 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2011 as well as the highest grossing film in the franchise and the highest grossing film starring Cruise until the release of 'Mission: Impossible Fallout' in 2018. The next film in the series, 'Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation', was released in 2015.
Plot
IMF agent Trevor Hanaway is killed in Budapest by assassin Sabine Moreau, who takes his file containing Russian nuclear launch codes so she can sell them to a man known only as "Cobalt."
IMF agent Ethan Hunt has become incarcerated in a Moscow prison to acquire Bogdan, a source of information on Cobalt. With the help of Jane Carter, Hanaway's handler, and newly promoted field agent Benji Dunn, Hunt and Bogdan make their escape. IMF tasks Hunt to infiltrate the Kremlin to gain information on Cobalt. During the mission, someone blows their cover, and Hunt's team aborts as a bomb destroys much of the Kremlin. Carter and Dunn escape, but Hunt is captured by SVR agent Anatoly Sidorov and charged with destroying the Kremlin.
Hunt escapes and meets with the IMF Secretary, who is in Moscow with his aide and intelligence analyst, William Brandt. The Secretary, reprimanded by Russian authorities, tells Hunt that the President had initiated "Ghost Protocol", disavowing the IMF, but secretly orders Hunt to continue to pursue Cobalt. Sidorov's forces catch up to Hunt, and the Secretary is killed. Hunt escapes with Brandt, and they regroup with Carter and Dunn to consolidate their intelligence. Brandt and Hunt identify Cobalt as Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist who seeks to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. Hendricks used the Kremlin bombing to cover his theft of a Russian launch-control device and now is planning a trade with Moreau at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to gain the required launch codes. Hendricks plans to use Leonid Lisenker, a cryptographer who has been kidnapped by Hendricks' right-hand man, Wistrom, to authenticate the codes.
The IMF contingent plans to intercept the launch codes by faking both meetings: Hunt and Brandt pose as Wistrom and Lisenker to receive the codes from Moreau; one floor away, Carter poses as Moreau, passing counterfeit codes to Wistrom and Lisenker. After some preparations, including Hunt climbing the outside of the Burj Khalifa to access a server, the IMF team pull off their plan. However, because Lisenker can actually authenticate the codes, Hunt is forced to pass him real ones, relying on radioactive isotopes in the paper to track Wistrom afterward. Wistrom murders Lisenker pre-emptively and escapes in a sandstorm while Sidorov apprehends Hunt, and Carter, in self-defense and to avenge Hanaway's death, slays Moreau, eliminating their lead.
With help from Bogdan, Ethan finds a new lead by negotiating with arms dealer The Fog, while Carter and Dunn confront Brandt, who fought with unusual skill in Dubai. Brandt confesses that he asked to be removed from field duty after being assigned to a bodyguard detail and failing to protect Julia Meade, Ethan's former wife. Hunt was then imprisoned after the Serbian criminals who killed her turned up dead.
The Fog directs Ethan towards Mumbai, where Hendricks is set to negotiate with Indian media tycoon Brij Nath to gain control of an obsolete Soviet military satellite. The IMF team splits up to stop Hendricks; Carter seduces Nath to get the satellite override code, while Hunt, Brandt, and Dunn try to stop Hendricks and Wistrom from using Nath's broadcast station. They are too late as Hendricks has sent the launch codes to a Russian nuclear submarine to fire a missile at San Francisco and disabled the station's computer systems. Carter, Brandt, and Dunn race to get the systems back online to send the override code, during which they engage in a battle of wits with Wistrom, who Dunn eventually kills. Hunt pursues Hendricks to a car vending machine, where they fight. With the launch device, Hendricks jumps to his death moments before the missile is set to impact. Brandt's team gets the systems online, and Hunt takes a dangerous fall to disable the missile as the dying Hendricks watches. Sidorov arrives and realizes that the IMF is innocent of the Kremlin bombing.
The team meets in Seattle after Ethan accepts a new mission from Luther Stickell. Brandt confesses to Ethan about his failure to protect Julia. Ethan, however, reveals that her "death" and the murder of the Serbians were part of a plot to give her a new identity and doubled as a cover story that let him infiltrate the prison to bring out Bogdan. A relieved Brandt accepts his mission and becomes an agent once again. Julia arrives at the harbor, and Ethan smiles at her from afar, then walks away and listens to an IMF debriefing about a terrorist organization known as "The Syndicate".
Cast
* Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and protagonist of the film
* Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, the IMF Secretary's aide and an intelligence analyst
* Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, a new IMF field agent and former IMF technician
* Paula Patton as Jane Carter, an IMF agent and Hanaway's handler who works with Ethan
* Michael Nyqvist as Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist codenamed 'Cobalt'
* Vladimir Mashkov as Anatoly Sidorov, a Russian SVR Agent who is after Ethan
* La Seydoux as Sabine Moreau, an assassin who worked for Hendricks at Dubai
* Josh Holloway as Trevor Hanaway, an IMF agent murdered by Moreau
* Anil Kapoor as Brij Nath, a media tycoon at Mumbai
* Samuli Edelmann as Marius Wistrom, Hendrick's henchman
* Ivan Shvedoff as Leonid Lisenker, a cryptography expert coerced by Hendricks
* Miraj Grbi as Bogdan, an informant in a Moscow prison
* Ilia Volok as The Fog, an arms dealer and Bogdan's cousin
* Andreas Wisniewski as The Fog's contact
* Tom Wilkinson (uncredited) as the IMF Secretary
* Ving Rhames (uncredited cameo) as Luther Stickell
* Michelle Monaghan (uncredited cameo) as Julia Meade-Hunt, Ethan's wife
Production
Despite 'Mission: Impossible III' earning less than its predecessors at the box office, its critical reception was much better than its predecessors and Paramount Pictures was keen on developing a fourth in the series. In August 2009, Josh Appelbaum and Andr Nemec were hired to write the film's screenplay. Because of other commitments, J. J. Abrams said that it was unlikely for him to return as director but made note that he will produce the film alongside Tom Cruise. By March 2010, director Brad Bird was in talks of directing the film with Cruise returning to star as Ethan Hunt.
The film was originally announced with a working name of 'Mission: Impossible 4' and code-named "'Aries'" during early production. By August 2010, title considerations did not include the 'Mission: Impossible 4' name, and thought was given to omitting the specific term "'Mission: Impossible'", which 'Variety' compared to Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel film 'The Dark Knight'. In late October 2010, the title was confirmed as 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol'.
Christopher McQuarrie (who later directed 'Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation' and 'Mission: Impossible Fallout') did an uncredited rewrite of the screenplay, explaining that:
Filming
The film was partially shot with IMAX cameras, which made up approximately 30 minutes of the film's run time. Bird insisted that certain scenes of the film be shot in IMAX, as opposed to 3D, as he felt that the IMAX format offered the viewer more immersion due to its brighter, higher quality image, which is projected on a larger screen, without the need for specialised glasses. Bird also believed that the IMAX format would bring back "a level of showmanship" to the presentation of Hollywood films, which he believes the industry has lost due to its emphasis on screening films in multiplexes as opposed to grand theaters, and vetoing "first runs" in favor of wider initial releases.Principal photography took place from October 2010 to March 19, 2011. Filming took place in Budapest, Mumbai, Prague, Moscow, Vancouver, Bangalore, Chennai, and Dubai. Although Cruise appears to be free solo climbing in the film with the help of special gloves, in reality, he was securely attached to the Burj Khalifa at all times by multiple cables. Industrial Light & Magic digitally erased the cables in post-production. Following Cruise's example, Patton and Seydoux also chose to forgo the use of stunt doubles for their fight scene at the Burj Khalifa where Carter exacts her revenge upon Moreau for Hanaway's death.
Many of the film's interior scenes were shot at Vancouver's Canadian Motion Picture Park Studios, including a key transition scene in a specially equipped IMF train car and the fight between Hunt and Hendricks in a Mumbai automated multi-level parking garage (which was constructed over a six-month period just for the film). The Vancouver Convention Centre was modified to double as downtown Bangalore. The film's opening Moscow prison escape scenes were shot on location in a real former prison near Prague.
Bird, having directed several Disney and Pixar films and short films, incorporated the trademark "A113" into the film on two separate occasions. The first is the design print on Hanaway's ring during the flashback sequence, and the second being when Hunt calls in for support and uses the drop callsign, Alpha 113.
Music
The musical score for 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' was composed by Michael Giacchino, who also composed the music for the third film and collaborated with Bird on 'The Incredibles' and 'Ratatouille'. As in previous installments, the score incorporates Lalo Schifrin's themes from the original television series. "Lalo is an amazing jazz writer. You know you can't write a straight-up jazz score for a film like this but you can certainly hint at it here and there," said Giacchino, explaining the stylistic influence generated by Schifrin's history with the franchise. A soundtrack album was released by Varse Sarabande on December 13, 2011.
Marketing
In July 2011, a teaser trailer for 'Ghost Protocol' was released illustrating new shots from the film, one of which being Tom Cruise scaling the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Moreover, prior to its release, the studio presented IMAX footage of the film to an invitation-only crowd of opinion makers and journalists at central London's BFI IMAX theater. One of the many scenes that were included was a chase scene in a Dubai desert sandstorm.
During November 2011, the Paramount released a Facebook game of the film in order to promote it. The new game allowed players to choose the roles of IMF agents and assemble teams to embark on a multiplayer journey. Players were also able to garner tickets to the film's U.S. premiere and a hometown screening of the film for 30 friends.
Release
Theatrical
Following the world premiere in Dubai on December 7, 2011, the film was released in IMAX and other large-format theaters in the U.S. on December 16, 2011, with general release on December 21, 2011. This is the first film to use the current Paramount Pictures logo, with the a brand new fanfare composed by Michael Giacchino, who also composed the film, as part of the studio's 100th anniversary.Home media
'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download on April 17, 2012.[http://www.kuzleem.com/1124-rent-mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-dvd-release-date.html Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol DVD RELEASE date | Redbox | Amazon | iTunes]. Kuzleem.com. The home media releases, however, do not preserve the original IMAX imagery,[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mission-Impossible-Ghost-Protocol-Blu-ray/30186/ Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol Blu-ray]. Blu-ray.com.[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mission-Impossible-Ghost-Protocol-Blu-ray/39008/ Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol Blu-ray: Limited 3-Disc Combo Best Buy Exclusive Content]. Blu-ray.com. and its aspect ratio is consistently cropped to 2.40:1 rather than switching to a 1.78:1 aspect ratio during the IMAX scenes. Blu-ray Disc releases such as 'The Dark Knight',[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Dark-Knight-Blu-ray/743/ The Dark Knight Blu-ray]. Blu-ray.com. 'Tron: Legacy',[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/TRON-Legacy-3D-Blu-ray/19153/ TRON: Legacy 3D Blu-ray]. Blu-ray.com. and 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Transformers-Revenge-of-the-Fallen-Blu-ray/7747/ Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray: Two-Disc Special Edition | IMAX Edition, Wal-Mart Exclusive]. Blu-ray.com. will switch between 2.40:1 for regular scenes and 1.78:1 for IMAX scenes. The film was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 26, 2018.Reception
Box office
'Ghost Protocol' grossed $209.4 million in North America and $485.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $694.7 million. It is the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in the 'Mission: Impossible' series, and the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2011. It is also the second-highest-grossing film worldwide starring Cruise, surpassing 'War of the Worlds' from the top spot. It was the franchise's highest-grossing film and Cruise's biggest film at the time of release, before being surpassed by 'Mission: Impossible Fallout' seven years later.In limited release at 425 locations in North America, it earned $12.8 million over its opening weekend. After five days of limited release, it expanded to 3,448 theaters on its sixth day and reached #1 at the box office with $8.92 million.[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3329&p=.htm Christmas Preview: 'M:I-4,' 'Dragon Tattoo' to Lead Crowded Holiday]. Boxofficemojo.com (December 22, 2011). The film reached the top stop at the box office in its second and third weekends with $29.6 million and $29.4 million, respectively.[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=2011&wknd=51&p=.htm Box Office: December 2325, 2011]. Boxofficemojo.com.[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/ Box Office: December 30 January 1, 2012]. Boxofficemojo.com. Though only 9% of the film's screenings were in IMAX theaters, they accounted for 23% of the film's box office.
Outside North America, it debuted to a $69.5 million in 42 markets representing approximately 70% of the marketplace. In the United Arab Emirates, it set an opening-weekend record of $2.4 million (since surpassed by 'Marvel's The Avengers'). In two countries outside the U.S. in which filming took place, its opening weekend gross increased by multiples over the previous installment: in Russia, more than doubling, to $6.08 million[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/cis/?yr=2011&wk=50&p=new Russia CIS Box Office December 1518, 2011]. Boxofficemojo.com. and in India, more than quadrupling, to $4.0 million. It is the second-highest-grossing 'Mission: Impossible' film outside North America. It topped the box office outside North America for three consecutive weekends (during December 2011) and five weekends in total (the other two in 2012). Its highest-grossing markets after North America are China ($102.5 million), Japan ($69.7 million), and South Korea ($51.1 million).
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' has an approval rating of 93% based on 239 reviews and an average rating of 7.70/10. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: "Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth 'Mission: Impossible' is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works." Metacritic assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' gave the film 3.5 out of four stars, saying the film "is a terrific thriller with action sequences that function as a kind of action poetry." Stephen Whitty of 'The Star-Ledger' wrote "The eye-candyfrom high-tech gadgets to gorgeous peoplehas only been ratcheted up. And so has the excitement." He also gave the film 3.5 out of four stars. Giving the film three out of four stars, Wesley Morris of 'The Boston Globe' said "In its way, the movie has old-Hollywood elegance. The scope and sets are vast, tall, and cavernous, but Bird scales down for spatial intimacy."
Philippa Hawker of 'The Sydney Morning Herald' gave the film three stars out of five and said it is "ludicrously improbable, but also quite fun." Owen Gleiberman of 'Entertainment Weekly' opined that the movie "brims with scenes that are exciting and amazing at the same time; they're brought off with such casual aplomb that they're funny, too. ... 'Ghost Protocol' is fast and explosive, but it's also a supremely clever sleight-of-hand thriller. Brad Bird, the animation wizard, ... showing an animator's miraculously precise use of visual space, has a playful, screw-tightening ingenuity all his own." Roger Moore of 'The Charlotte Observer' gave the film three out of four stars; said "Brad Bird passes his audition for a career as a live-action director. And 'Ghost Protocol' more than makes its bones as an argument for why Tom Cruise should continue in this role as long as his knees, and his nerves, hold up."
IndieWire ranked it as one of the best action movies of the 21st century.
Accolades
Sequel
In December 2011, Pegg suggested that he and Cruise were interested in returning for a fifth 'Mission: Impossible' film.[http://www.moviehole.net/201149903-exclusive-pegg-bird-on-mission-impossible-5-tom-cruise-not-retiring-ethan-hunt-after-all Exclusive : Pegg, Bird on Mission : Impossible 5; Tom Cruise not retiring Ethan Hunt after all] Movie Hole Paramount was also reportedly interested in fast-tracking a fifth film due to the fourth film's success.[https://screenrant.com/mission-impossible-5-kofi-144888/ 'Mission: Impossible 5 Being Fast-Tracked by Paramount?] Screen Rant Bird had stated that he probably would not return to direct a fifth film, but Tom Cruise had been confirmed to return.[http://craveonline.com/film/interview/186755-the-alien-3effect-brad-brid-on-mission-impossible-ghost-prtocol The 'Alien 3' Effect: Brad Bird on Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol] Crave Online It was revealed in August 2013 that Christopher McQuarrie would be the director of 'Mission: Impossible 5'. Principal photography began in February 2014 in London. Paramount Pictures released the film on July 31, 2015. The plot centers around Hunt's IMF team in conflict with "the Syndicate", an international criminal organization first mentioned at the end of 'Ghost Protocol'.
References
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