Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) ****

What can I say? I loved this latest instalment of the Impossible series!

I was literally on the edge of my seat for the majority of it and laughing my bum off for the rest!  

Tom Cruise still has it as Ethan Hunt and Ghost Protocol proves it.

Joining him on this most recent mission are Simon Pegg's Benji, Paula Patton's Jane Carter and slightly later on Jeremy Renner's Brandt.  They're up against the loony Michael Nyqvist's terrorist Hendricks.  He is a complete headcase whose warped sense of bringing about world peace involves bringing about a nuclear war.

Unfortunately for the IMF team, Hendricks is an extremely intelligent headcase who's always one step ahead of them.  

Hendricks frames the team for a destructive attack on the Kremlin, leaving the President to invoke Ghost Protocol.  So basically, they're on their own, with no back up as IMF "never" existed.  From here on, it just gets crazier as Hunt leads his team on a death-defying race to stop Hendricks from unleashing Armageddon.  Cue action packed sequences with Hunt doing most of the death defying bits.  One of the most breath-taking scenes occurs in Dubai.  I literally held my breath and almost fell off my seat.

Jeremy Renner is the twist.  Spoiler alert!

I spent half the movie shaking my head every time he showed up, asking myself, why on Earth would they cast Renner as just a geek when he clearly had the presence of so much more i.e. on par with Cruise’s Agent Hunt.  Although he could be highly amusing bouncing off the hysterical Pegg.  In short, they complemented each other rather well.  And when we found out Renner’s Brandt is not just a geek, it gets more exciting and increasingly funny as Benji and Brandt’s respective geek and action jock enter into their own action escapade.

Let’s not forget Paula Patton’s Agent Carter.  She has a personal mission of her own.  Once she has taken care of business, she’s off to deal with the side-splittingly creepy, Brij Nath (Bollywood’s very own Anil Kapoor).

All this leads to the ultimate fight scenes.  That’s right, there are two of them at the same time!

I’ll say this, I’d love Tom Cruise to continue with the Impossible missions.  And the way Ghost Protocol ended, it’s perfect for another sequel!  One that I insist must include Pegg and Renner (or at least Pegg, Renner’s rising star might mean he’s to busy to play side-kick)!

And my only gripe?  Yes, I know it’s petty and childish, but I would have loved more of Josh Holloway.  Remember him from Lost (he played the swoon-worthy Sawyer)? Well, in the short time we had him, he proved that he is capable of handling an action movie.  Maybe he should get his own… just a thought.