Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is my new favorite movie... of the "Mission Impossible" movies.

That's not a very high bar, but hey, it cleared that bar with all kinds of room to spare.

MI:GP was fun for a couple of reasons. First, I had just read this post from Temple of the Seven Golden Camels which talks about "plan" scenes in heist films, and how the more we know about the plan, the less likely it is to succeed. MI:GP lays out the whole plan, and, per the formula, things go badly. Even knowing that, however, I had a great time.

Secondly, that scene on the tower? The peril was communicated very effectively. I cringed, I white-knuckled, I winced... I enjoyed it. 

The first two acts were wonderful. The third act was pretty good. The epilogue? It was so tedious I kept expecting a bullet or a bomb to interrupt us and take us into the REAL third act, or set us up for a sequel. Did I just give away the fact that this does not happen? Yes. Yes I did. So for you it will just be kind of tedious, and not in the least bit tense.

Speaking of sequels, however, this film was strong enough that I'll see whatever comes next in the franchise. Especially if they can keep this cast around. As of this writing, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol comes in at #16 for me this year. It didn't clear the Threshold of Awesome, but it didn't disappoint.