MISSION IMPOSSIBLE/ GHOST PROTOCOL 3.5***

This is hands-down the best action film for 2011, boasting some of the most exhilarating action sequences ever captured in a long while. It also restores Tom Cruise's marquee value as an action star.

.The movie has a classy, heart-pounding, nail-biting opening that sees IMF operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) breaking out of a Russian prison. The sequence, which combines Dean Martin's 'Ain't That A Kick in the Head' with Steve McQueen's 'The Great Escape', is carefully executed and fluidly filmed .
No 'Mission Impossible' film would be complete without the exotic locales, fancy gadgets and big explosions.. So even as the setting moves from Russia to Dubai to Mumbai, even as the gadgets grow increasingly more dazzling and even as the explosions get more colossal, the movie never lets the adventure get frenetic, and alternates between quiet tension and full-blown action to keep you on the edge of your seat.

But the most awe-inspiring action sequence so worthy of special mention is Cruise's nerve-wracking climb up the glass exterior of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai by using, of all things, electronic suction gloves. It is Cruise himself way up on the 130th floor, and the authenticity of it shows in every second of the breathtaking cinematography which was done for and should be seen at I-MAX (which thankfully I did) . It is even more heart-stopping than you can imagine, such as when Cruise is left dangling by just one glove after the other malfunctions. Nothing else quite comes close to the sheer dizzying excitement of this sequence- not even the intensely gripping race-against-time climax to the movie complete with a good-old fashion fistfight between Hunt and the main villain in an automated parking garage.

Cruise isn't one to rest on his laurels, and at the age of 49, the extent to which he commits to perform the stunts in this movie by himself is simply amazing , Cruise also uses his immense charisma to deliver a slickly captivating performance as the leader of IMFteam.. He also enjoys a fine supporting cast…Simon Pegg, as the tech whiz, Paula Patton, as the tough sexy female player and last, but not least, Jeremy Renner, as the intelligence analyst. There is no super villain here but it is not really necessary because there’s enough going on as it is .

. To say that the action on display is exhilarating is merely an understatement, and let me repeat that you really should see this one at IMAX to get the full impact of the movie.. It is quite simply the best 'Mission Impossible' entry yet, and the best action movie in 2011 and maybe 2012.
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Clark