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FILMEDGE MISSION PROFILE UPDATED JUNE 28, 2011 — Paramount has released the teaser trailer for MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL and it looks like another fast-paced action thriller starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, his latest mission now being directed by Pixar veteran Brad Bird in his first live-action theatrical project. A terrorist bombing crisis has disavowed all IMF agents including Hunt who gathers his few remaining allies to uncover the mystery before it destroys the IMF and claims more innocent lives. Watch the trailer below then read FILMEDGE's analysis of this teaser below, or jump to view the trailer in QuickTime 1080p HD quality.
TRAILER ANALYSIS — This teaser trailer succeeds handily in completing one mission: it erases any doubts that director Brad Bird can handle this high-concept, action-packed film. FILMEDGE had little doubt about Bird after his clever action antics seen in THE INCREDIBLES, which clearly demonstrated his directorial chops for making action films in any format. GHOST PROTOCOL may be a smart and convenient way for Bird to make his live-action bow behind the camera since the MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE franchise is thoroughly established to the tune of $2 billion-plus at box offices worldwide, so its cinematic momentum takes some of the pressure off his individual performance with Tom Cruise in the on-screen lead.
 Seeing the cast in action at last is also encouraging for the film's prospects: while Cruise recreates his previous incarnations of Ethan Hunt from what little we see, the 'team' around him appears to freshen up the franchise in its fourth chapter. Perhaps most compelling is the leading man stand-off between Cruise and Jeremy Renner as Brandt, the actor/character presumed to take over the M:I film franchise if and when Cruise decides to retire Hunt from his repertoire. Renner's bona fides in both action and drama will suit him well in new M:I adventures, plus he'll have his turn as Marvel's superhero archer Hawkeye in THE AVENGERS under his belt by then as well. While we suspect Brandt's character will not fully develop in GHOST PROTOCOL lest it overshadow Hunt's role in the plot, some solid groundwork could be established for Brandt opposite Cruise this December.
Paula Patton looks luscious and ready for action as Hunt's IMF ally, Jane Carter — her first name revealed in the quick snipped of disavowed IMF agents as seen in early in the teaser trailer. Patton did well opposite Denzel Washington in 2006's DEJA VU, so we can only hope her character is written deeply and strongly enough to truly share the screen (and action) with Cruise and Renner, and not just serve as exotic-looking eye candy. The IMF team could get awfully crowded under such conditions, and the films have a tendency to apportion roles to supporting cast as mission specialists, but FILMEDGE is pulling for Carter to give and take right along side her fellow agents. We are given no clue about Lea Seydoux's character quite deliberately, but she appears to be a very lethal foil for Patton's Carter, if the glimpses of their hand-to-hand combat is any indication. We're guessing Seydoux resides on the dark side of the character ledger, judging from her serious stares and fisticuffs intercut with the leading cast action, and we like what we see so far.
There is no doubt Simon Pegg returns for some techno-geek comic relief, aiding and abetting Hunt as IMF's gadget guru Benji Dunn, but this teaser implies he also sees his fair share of action and gunplay as well. Good for Pegg and the film! The actor has proven himself able to walk fine thematic lines between genre character acting — witness a swath of personalities ranging from SHAUN OF THE DEAD to HOT FUZZ to Scotty in Abrams' reboot of STAR TREK — while still delivering needed humor when it fits. More and better from Benji Dunn as seen in M:I 3 will arm this new mission for success.
 Though we get only glimpses of Josh Holloway (last seen in the hit TV series LOST) in this teaser, he appears a good fit from what little evidence director Bird, producer Abrams and Paramount offer so far. The same brief images of the disavowed IMF agents appears to identify Holloway's character as Trevor Hanaway, which puts him on the 'right' side of this equation as the top secret unit is shut down and framed for the bombing of the Kremlin in Moscow. Of course, M:I fans — especially those of the feature franchise — will take this friendly designation with a huge grain of salt, since his character is a cypher of non-information per this first look trailer, and indeed the films have a tendency to pit IMF agents against IMF agents in battles of distrust and disloyalty. At any rate, Holloway seems a promising fit to the series as a newcomer, and his characters roof-fall-pistol-shot stunt looks like a stand-out action moment amid the several set pieces revealed already in this teaser.
FILMEDGE is always encouraged to see the excellent Tom Wilkinson in any film trailer, and his addition to the M:I cast in any role boosts the film's prospects up a notch on principle. Though the actor does not appear credited in any official Paramount press materials released, Wilkinson presumably is now in charge of IMF to some degree, at least enough to know that if a shutdown of the IMF is both imminent and unwarranted, he can rely on Hunt to (dare we say) go rogue and get to the bottom of the treachery afoot. We particularly enjoyed his low-key, rather ironic reading of the classic "your mission, should you choose to accept it" line in this teaser, an intonation which is superbly dry yet drips with the desperation in Hunt a no-choice option to accept the task forced upon him. His character sounds like he's spoken the line to agents about fifty-too-many times at this stage of his career, backed by the instructional proposition that Hunt now assault both he and Brandt in order to make his escape from the limo. Well, that's our early interpretation of the scene, anyway, but whatever the eventual context, the dramatic point is in good hands with Wilkinson.
 We do find a few disappointments in this early look at GHOST PROTOCOL, though they are tempered by the teaser nature of this early trailer for the film. Perhaps there are too many shots which directly echo moments we've already seen (some infamously) in previous M:I films: the fourth shot in, Hunt's vault through the air with the Kremlin exploding behind him nearly duplicates a stunt from M:I 3 as the drone attack detonates a car and Hunt flies off in the shock wave. Hunt's somewhat shaggy hair harkens back to his looking-great-in-slo-mo era from M:I 2, which seems a bit out of place for an active IMF agent today. But his locks pale in comparison to the return of his high climbing act from both the second and third films. Is there no other way to put Ethan Hunt in mortal espionage danger than to stick him on the side of the highest building available — literally, in the case of Dubai's towering Burj Khalifa? Granted this thrill skill is a continuation of Hunt's penchant for vertical face derring-do, but aside from the acrophobic potential, how much cinematic suspense be wrung from this one visual element in the series? FILMEDGE hopes that Brad Bird has more up his directorial sleeve for this high-altitude, high-familiarity stunt than appears in this teaser trailer. Likewise, we're also hoping there is more plot complexity behind the smear-IMF-interagency-corruption angle, since the world hasn't exactly run out of proper villains. Though we can see that another government/intelligence agency plotting against IMF might provide the series shake-up needed for a mini-reboot with Renner's Brandt in the lead for future M:I films.
Fans and audiences have expressed mixed reactions to the inclusion of Won't Back Down by Eminem and Pink in the teaser, though we're not sure what the hubbub is about since there is no indication the song will appear in the film's soundtrack selection. The song dates back to Eminem's Recovery album and appears in the Call of Duty: Black Ops video game credits, both from 2010 when his album topped sales charts for the year. We think the rap duet cuts into the midsection action montages, and its worldwide popularity makes a good, immediate hook for the teaser in theaters where studios are jockeying to grab audiences' attentions amid a crowded summer season. The rap title and lyrics obviously suit Ethan Hunt's mission to exonerate IMF from global terrorism accusations just as well as they punctuate the quick-snap editing of action and character moments. It works.
Positive points to GHOST PROTOCOL's teaser for being quite meaty in content and story previews which appear to hold back little of the final film while preserving its plot secrets to whet our appetite for more this winter. A future full theatrical trailer will seem like a follow-up sequel compared to this robust, bar-setting teaser for the film. This is a good sign that Bird, Abrams and Paramount all have high confidence in the film's dramatic and action core by refusing to hide behind a bare bones teaser that implies tons of promised goods to come but offers nothing to see six months out from release. Another good sign: key elements of major action set pieces are ready for screening before July, implying that Bird has opted to film a great deal of the movie on location around the globe and not shoot it in Greenscreenland, where months of post-production visual effects keep scenes and sequences unfinished (and unseen) until the December theatrical release. Preferring production reality to the virtual variety should make it easier for MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL to fulfill its promise as a "grittier and more intense" installment than we've ever seen before. Four films into the series, that is a bold and necessary goal at which to aim.
Stay tuned to FILMEDGE for more photos, video clips and news developments on MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL. |
