I won't be cliche and tell you that your mission, should you choose to accept it... You know the rest.

Without a doubt, this is the best of all the Mission Impossible movies, including the original. Over the years, the MI franchise had become something of a cartoon of itself. So, it seemed appropriate that Brad Bird should be chosen to helm MI4 Ghost Protocol. As the Oscar winning director of the Incredibles, he made animated cartoons seem very real. Now, he's made Mission Impossible real again. He's injected a fresh breathe of confidence, humor and camaraderie into a series that sorely needed it. He's not only re-invigorated the franchise, he's re-invigorated Tom Cruise's career as an action star. With this movie, Tom is back on top.

You'll notice that there is a lot of the Incredibles in MI4 Ghost Protocol. That's not only because of Brad Bird's influence, but because the Incredibles was a humorous homage to action films. You could say it's the IMF meets the Incredibles. That is not a deterrent. It's a tribute to a director who can think outside the proverbial action box. This isn't the same old, same old. The movie is much more upbeat and doesn't take itself too seriously. Which works to its advantage.

Tom Cruise has never been better. This isn't the brooding Ethan Hunt of previous movies. He's a man on a mission. pardon the pun. To make a complicated story short, the IMF has been shut down and disavowed after a massive explosion at the Kremlin. That explosion is blamed on the IMF. But, it was nothing more than a diversion to steal a nuclear detonator by a terrorist hell bent on ensuring peace on Earth by starting a nuclear war between the super powers. It's up to Ethan, and his cobbled together disavowed team, to hunt down the nuclear terrorist and save the world. simple.

Once you have suspended disbelief, sit back and enjoy. The cast is uniformly excellent. Jeremy Renner plays an IMF analyst suit (with more than desk skills at his disposal) reluctantly recruited into the field. Paula Patton is the former team leader of a mission gone bad sent to rescue Hunt. Simon Pegg is back as Benji, the computer/technology genius. While it may seem like he's there just for comic relief, he is an integral part of the team. There are no dull moments. The movie has a quick pace, fun one liners and mind blowing special effects filmed in glorious IMAX. Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner both have sensational action sequences. Tom Cruise isn't the only actor who gets to jump off buildings. And if this movie is any indication, Jeremy Renner is going to make a fantastic Jason Bourne. This wasn't a vehicle for just Tom. Everyone gets a piece of the action. It's a true throw back to the original TV series.

and wait until you see the car. James Bond would trade in his Aston Martin for it.

I think there are several reviews already with the same complaints but I just thought I would add my voice to the chorus.

No spoilers.

The Movie- 5 Stars
This movie has a ton of "hands-down" moments. Among them:
- Probably one of the best pure action movies I have ever seen. Yes, the plot is silly, but this is not a movie you walk into expecting it to change your perspective on life. It's just a fun and exciting movie which puts a very nice spin on the tired franchise with the Murphy's Law conundrums. Part of the fun is watching how Tom Cruise and team find their way around everything that the plot throws at them. One of my favorite sequences in MI3 was the Italy scenes where a daring heist is carried off flawlessly. In this movie, you have tons of heist scenes where absolutely nothing goes right and the movie still manages to find that tricky signature balance between action/plausibility/humor that carries the viewer from scene to scene with bated breath.

- Direction/editing was first-rate. Brad Bird really has the chops to carry this off and I look forward to his next big screen popcorn pleaser.

- Acting. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY runs like Tom Cruise. Despite his tarnished public image, Cruise proves once again why he is the king of action movies. His intensity and star mega power is on full display here and his physical investment is right up there on the screen. He is nicely matched with the supporting cast---Paula Patton is the feminine charm (and how nice it is to see an actress who is not a 20 year old stick and is believable being super sexy and kicking butt!), Simon Pegg is used in just the right amounts and Jeremy Renner is adequate in his role as well, though I am not sure if he can match Cruise on pure charisma if the plan is to have him take over the series someday. He does have amazing arm veins though.

- The Imax scenes in the theatre were jaw-dropping and perfectly blended into the regular scenes. And this leads me to my complaints.

The Blu-Ray Disc- 3 stars
I cannot emphasize how incredibly disappointed I was that these Imax scenes were not presented in the disc.

I have no idea why they skimped out on this, but those panoramic sweeping vista moments were a key highlight to this movie. The opening scenes in Prague set the stage, the Dubai scenes contributed to that sense of vertigo and epic stomach churning anxiety. Why would they not include these on the Blu Ray?

"The Dark Knight" Blu Ray, still my favorite disc, proved you can do this well for the home audience. When I ordered MI4, I was most looking forward to seeing those Imax scenes again and was extremely disappointed they were not included. And yes, that was enough to dock 2 stars for me, despite the movie's excellence.

Do I regret this purchase? Yeah, I kinda do. I am super picky with my Blu Ray purchases because I went a little nuts purchasing 100's of DVD's and promised myself only to buy Blu Rays which were superlative. I was really hoping this would be one of them and I feel a bit cheated because in my opinion, this was not the whole movie. Those Imax scenes were a labor of love to shoot and specifically part of Brad Bird's vision and it is a huge disservice to have not included them.

ETA: I actually did a little research as to why Brad Bird did not include the 16:9 aspect ratio to accommodate the Imax scenes...apparently, this was so that there would be no impact on people who have constant height projection systems. Again, this was Mr. Bird's choice and I guess I have to respect it.
One more thing I did want to add which I did not mention in my review---the Blu Ray itself *is* pretty incredible in both picture and sound. Really great quality. My only nitpick was the exclusion of 16:9 aspect Imax scenes, which even though there is now a real reason for it, I wish were still included as an extra.

UPDATED FOR BLU-RAY:

A couple of things about the Blu-ray edition 1) Paramount has done a stunning transfer with nice depth, clarity and detail. Skin tones look quite nice as do textures. The audio is VERY active with a great losslss 7.1 mix.

Be aware however that the sequences shot in IMAX format are NOT presented in the wider aspect ratio for the film (unlike, say, "The Dark Knight"). Also this includes a code for a Ultraviolet "copy" which means you'll have to stream the film rather than upload it to your portable device. There's also a code for itunes as well if you go that route.

The special features are good for the two disc editions but I am a bit disappointed that we don't get a feature length commentary track from Brad Bird and tom Cruise but we do get Bird's commentary for the deleted scenes and alternate opening sequence for the film. We also get featurettes on the dust storm sequence (a truly amazing sequence in a film filled with them) as well as "Mission Accepted" with Cruise, J.J. Abrams and director Bird on set discussing the making of the film.

On the film:
When Tom Cruise lost it a couple of years back it impacted my ability to enjoy the films he was in and for a long while I avoided them. Having said that, I enjoyed "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" and found it to be the most consistently entertaining of the four films produced in the "MI" film series. Bringing director Brad Bird ("The Incredibles", "The Iron Giant")best known for his CGI films made with Pixar was a wise move--Bird proved that he had the ability to make an exceptional thriller with involving characters even when they were CG and now he had the chance to prove he could do the same with live action thrillers.

SPOILERS:

The convoluted plot boils down to this: Ethan Hunt has been disavowed due to an operation that went awry and he's forced to work with an mysterious analyst named Brandt(Jeremey Renner "The Hurt Locker" and forthcoming "Avengers"), Jane (Paula Patton "Jumping the Broom")and the only member of his team that he's worked with before Benji (Simon Pegg "Paul", "Star Trek") now a field operative. Hunt's team can't rely on anybody within IMF because the organization is being blamed for the destruction of a military facility in the Kremlin. Hunt discovers that Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist of the original "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")a dangerous terrorist has active launch codes for a Russian nuclear device and plans on using it to start a nuclear war.

END OF SPOILERS:

A well made thriller with some truly astonishing action set pieces including a scene where Hunt must scale the tallest building in the world in Dubai, "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" truly delivers on its promise and is, quite possibly, the best of the four films that Tom Cruise as starred in and co-produced. The writing by André Nemec and Josh Applebaum (both "Alias" alumni working with "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams as co-producer of the film)focuses on developing the plot not so much the characters in the film (although a cursory attempt is made with the IMF team)but then these type of films aren't about developing character as much as it is to create just enough to help the plot fly.

The action is nonstop in "M:IGP" and fans looking for a spectaular display of explosions/action sequences won't be disappointed. The main flaw of the film is the lack of character development and the use of familiar faces (Jeremey Renner, Josh Holloway in a cameo, Tom Wilkinson)to help flesh out characters that aren't given much screen time to develop but, as I mentioned earlier, that's really not the point of "M:IGP".