Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns to the screen in dramatic fashion as new teammate Jane (Paula Patton) and the returning Benji (Simon Pegg) break him out of a Russian prison. This thrilling prologue is set to Dean Martin's "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," and for the next two hours, Cruise's noggin will knock against everything from moving vehicles to the windows of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, setting off a vertiginous climbing sequence. Animation director Brad Bird chose to accept the right mission for his leap to live action, elevating a so-so script that finds the IMF, joined by overqualified "analyst" Brandt (Jeremy Renner), on the run after being blamed for the bombing of the Kremlin. The screening I attended wasn't shown in the 70mm IMAX format, but I'll be seeing it again on a four-story-high screen. You should too.
