Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
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After the IMF is publicly disavowed following a Kremlin bombing, Ethan Hunt and his team must operate without resources to clear their names and stop a nuclear threat.
The story
After the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is publicly implicated in a bombing of the Kremlin, the organization is shut down and its agents are left without resources or backup. Ethan Hunt and his team must operate in the shadows to clear their names. While investigating a plot involving stolen Russian nuclear launch codes, the team faces a series of escalating dangers. They must navigate a complex web of international intrigue to stop a strategist seeking to trigger a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia, all while being hunted by a relentless Russian agent who believes they are responsible for the Kremlin attack.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After the IMF is disavowed following a Kremlin bombing, Ethan Hunt and his team must operate without official support. They discover that a strategist named Kurt Hendricks (codenamed 'Cobalt') has stolen Russian nuclear launch codes. The team infiltrates a meeting in Dubai at the Burj Khalifa to intercept the codes from Hendricks's henchmen. During the operation, they face a series of betrayals and high-stakes confrontations. Ethan eventually learns that Hendricks plans to use an old Soviet satellite to launch a missile at San Francisco. The team travels to Mumbai to secure the satellite's override code from a media tycoon. In a final confrontation, Ethan faces Hendricks, who takes his own life to prevent the launch. Ethan manages to disable the missile just before it detonates. In the aftermath, the IMF is cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated. The film ends with Ethan reuniting with his team and his wife, Julia, whose survival was kept secret to ensure her safety.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 133
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brad Bird
- Writers
- Josh Appelbaum · writer; André Nemec · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise · Ethan Hunt; Jeremy Renner · William Brandt; Simon Pegg · Benji Dunn; Paula Patton · Jane Carter; Michael Nyqvist · Kurt Hendricks; Vladimir Mashkov · Anatoly Sidorov; Léa Seydoux · Sabine Moreau; Josh Holloway · Trevor Hanaway; Anil Kapoor · Brij Nath; Samuli Edelmann · Marius Wistrom; Ivan Shvedoff · Leonid Lisenker; Miraj Grbić · Bogdan
- Genres
- action; spy; thriller
- Themes
- sacrifice; espionage; loyalty
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- spy; nuclear threat; undercover
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, praising its action sequences, Tom Cruise's performance, and Brad Bird's direction. It was also noted for revitalizing the franchise into mainstream success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 94% · scale: percentage · review count: 253; Metacritic · score: 73 · scale: 100 · review count: 47
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · winning films · win
- Production trivia
- Brad Bird made his live-action directorial debut with this film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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