Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol

From what I've heard, the time of year is approaching when new releases worth seeing in the movie theater are few and far between. Surely all the Golden Globe winners (after Sunday) and soon-to-be Oscar nominated films will be in theaters for the time being, but if you're lucky enough to have seen all of those and made it to The Muppets, then what? I kind of can't believe I'm saying this, but check out Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. We were going to see the new Sherlock Holmes but decided on Mission: Impossible instead due to mixed reviews of the Robert Downey Jr. flick.
Mission: Impossible definitely was not my top choice of what is in theaters now, but I actually found the movie entertaining for the full 2.5 hours.

That is really long for a big-budget popcorn movie, but I didn't even realize that much time had gone by until we left the theater.

For the record, I've always been indifferent about Tom Cruise as an actor and he really didn't make or break the movie for me. However I just might become a crazed fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise if rumors that Jeremy Renner's Ghost Protocol character, William Brandt, could be the next lead agent are true.
Renner plays an "analyst" in Ghost Protocol who turns out to be secret agent material alongside Cruise.
Cruise reportedly did his own stunts in the movie and whether that's the case or not I will say they were pretty fantastic if you're into that sort of thing. My partner in crime at this movie was literally on the edge of his seat during some scenes.
He and other viewers have director Brad Bird, of Pixar fame, and action giant J.J. Abrams as producer to thank for that and I suppose Cruise -- again if you're into that sort of thing.
I imagine for fans of Abrams' latest work in the action movie realm that a little known fact is he co-created one of the best shows ever to air on TV -- in my opinion -- Felicity. How he changed from a four-year series based on a college student following her high school crush to New York to projects where things blow up a lot is a mystery to me, but I digress. (To be clear, I am not criticizing Abrams because his IMDB resume does show a lot of street cred and smart choices, but Felicity is still my favorite project of his.)
Anyway, moving back to secret agents and million-dollar BMWs, I feel I don't even need to describe the plot of Mission: Impossible since I knew nothing about this installment before going to the theater. Basically Ethan Hunt returns to the secret agent game to prevent a nuclear weapon from destroying the world by using every gadget, fast car and fight move possible. Then, Ghost Protocol happens and agents in IMF are pinpointed as the bad guys and need to go undercover to accomplish their mission to save the world.
Again, Cruise was really just an afterthought in the movie for me but Renner and the tech guy for IMF Benji (Simon Pegg) turned out performances that gave Mission: Impossible just a little bit more substance and comic relief at times.
I also enjoyed that Renner's character was masked as the smart, quiet guy but he really could fight off the bad guys just as much as Ethan Hunt.
I would hope, if there is a No. 5 to Mission: Impossible, Renner stays on board and Bird and Abrams continue to be attached to the project. Bird mastered his first live action film very well with Mission: Impossible and frankly the franchise doesn't need yet another set of creators to put their spin on it. Abrams produced Mission: Impossible III and I think now that he and Bird found each other in Hollywood they should stick with the partnership.
We missed the trailers before the movie, but should you accept the mission to succumb to watching Cruise and the gang in the theater, I heard there is an extended peak of the new Batman movie at the beginning.