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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

A white-knuckle ride... Cruise and his dream team have the chemistry and charisma to make the fourth instalment the best.

Released in IMAX theatres 21st December 2011, and cinemas from the 26th.

Pixar director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) makes his live-action debut in breathtaking style, revitalising a flagging franchise with good humour and a gifted eye for audacious action.

Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, now dwelling in a Russian prison. One expertly choreographed escape later, he's on his next mission - infiltrating the Kremlin. When it goes unexpectedly and spectacularly wrong, the EMF is disavowed, but Ethan has a new team assembled to take down the movie's nuclear-code stealing villain Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist, with considerably more to do than his recent Hollywood role in Abduction).

Simon Pegg is the only familiar face, with his technical wizard Benji now a (nervy and excited) field agent. Pegg shines as part of the onsite team, with his banter and one-liners amplified. Paula Patton is terrific is the strong, lithe Jane, battling demons similar to Ethan's. Her backstory, working with fellow agent Hanaway (Lost star Josh Holloway in pretty much a cameo), gives her character tense impetus, and refreshingly, means she's never there as "the love interest".

One of Cruise's most underrated qualities as an actor is his lack of ego onscreen - an actor happy to let his co-stars steal the limelight, he shares the alpha male role with Jeremy Renner. As Brandt, an analyst for the IMF secretary (Tom Wilkinson), he reveals his hidden qualities after reluctantly coming along for the ride.

The decent character arcs make up for a so-so plot that's been done to death, but it serves to set up the astounding stunts. Relentlessly thrilling, utterly exhilarating, it boasts a number of stand-out action sequences away from the Burj Khalifa skyscraper moneyshot.

Early on at the Kremlin archives there's a fiendishly clever and nailbiting showcase of Benji's wizardy, as he and Ethan attempt to simply walk down a corridor. There's a blistering chase during a sandstorm, which, suicidely, goes from foot to car. Talking of cars, a futuristic, automated car park is the shifting, threatening location for a vertiginous scrap. Brandt gets in on the action when he puts his life in Benji's hands (and a magnetic vest) in a dangerous, nervy, sweaty sequence that echoes Ethan's infamous drop in the first film.

However, MI4 will always be remembered for Cruise's scaling of the tallest building in the world - a memorable moment set to go down as a classic scene in cinema. Ethan must use what are essentially sticky gloves ("blue is glue, red is dead") to crawl along the outside of the Burj Khalifa - 100 stories up. The beauty is that it really is Cruise hanging from the outside of the building (we'll allow him the wires that were obviously erased), and this insane commitment to authenticity adds to the sweat-inducing vertigo. This painfully elaborate and lengthy set piece is worth the IMAX ticket alone - it simply has to be seen in the format in which it was filmed.

Infinitely more ingenuious and thrilling than a Bond movie, minus the arrogance and sexism, it only loses its momentum, ironically, when Jane has to use her feminine wiles to entrap Anil Kapoor's caricature of a sleazy billionaire. MI4 uses its 2hr 13min runtime to give its good guys reason and purpose, but the baddies are underdeveloped, which means there's a lack of danger - despite the world being at stake. However, it never outstays its welcome, particularly with the affectionate and fan-pleasing ending.

A white-knuckle ride like never seen before, Cruise and his dream team have the chemistry and charisma to make the fourth instalment the best of the Mission Impossible series.

Rating: 8/10