Movies

Whether dangling a mile above the earth or escaping a Russian prison in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise successfully reminds us that his official title is Biggest Movie Star in the World.

This fizzy caper offers all the hi-tech gadgetry, identity changes and physical feats of impossibility we've come to expect from the franchise in a charging narrative that barely pauses to catch a breath.

Throwing logic aside, the typically grand, energetic plot sees Ethan (Cruise) and his team blamed for an explosion in the Kremlin. Initiating 'ghost protocol', the US government disavows the entire Impossible Missions Force. Determined to clear his name and stop the bad guy, Ethan convinces his sceptical team to crisscross the planet from Budapest to Dubai in a series of jittery, high-tension escapades.

Although nearly 50, not for one second do we doubt that Cruise is Ethan Hunt, spy extraordinaire, master of the vertical drop, thwarter of terrorist dreams. Helping dial his charisma wattage up to 10 is the backing of his best ensemble yet.

Simon Pegg offers regular buffoonery as IT whiz Benji, Jeremy Renner as mysterious analyst Brandt is quietly understated, and Paula Patton as agent Jane works femme fatale-with-an-axe-to-grind nicely.

Director Brad Bird (of Ratatouille fame in his first live-action film) creates a remarkably buoyant story, nimbly zipping between action and comedy. Let's be clear however, this is a sledgehammer action film.

The love interest and dramatic back story requisite in other Mission Impossibles has been cut here, replaced by stunts and one-liners.

However, when they're as good as Ethan's dizzying climb of the Burj Khalifa or as sharp as Pegg's delivery, it hardly matters.

Genuinely enthralling and boisterously fun, the fourth instalment breathes new life into the series.