Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol (DVD)
Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton

This new mission is helmed by Brad Bird, the director who has only made animated movies before this. They WERE three of the best-reviewed animated films of all time though (The Iron Giant; Ratatouille and The Incredibles), so his expertise and experience in creating fun-filled "rides" while never losing sight of the actual storyline stood him in good stead here. M.I.4 could actually be viewed as a live-action version of The Incredibles, that's how much fun it is.

Brilliantly-executed set-pieces include a Russian prison breakout (set to the music of Dean Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head"); an ingenious attempt to infiltrate the Kremlin in Moscow using dazzling sleight-of-hand; a sandstorm chase in Dubai (on foot and via vehicle); and the definite highlight is Ethan Hunt's attempt to scale the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. this scene is equal-parts exciting and scary, with a small dose of unexpected humour as well. Tom Crusie once again does his own stunts, and this is definitely to be commended, although one would question his sanity, especially after the "tower-climbing" scene and the exciting climax (which I won't spoil).

As for the story and the performers, the storyline was good and the IMF team were more involved than in previous installments. Ably supported by the funny Simon Pegg, the absolutely gorgeous Paula Patton, and the mysterious Jeremy Renner, Tom Cruise manages to give everyone enough screen time to make them feel part of the adventure. Only weak point of the movie really was the lack of character development and screen time allotted to the villain. He was criminally underused. Everything else was top-notch though. A few surprise cameos also helps to make us understand Ethan Hunt and his mindset. All in all, this is definitely the best Mission yet! In a word: brilliant! (5 out of 5, by Carlisle Johnson)