The debate rages as to when exactly Tom Cruise decided to give up being an actor in favor of permanently becoming Tom Cruise, but the December 2011 release of Brad Bird’s jaw-dropping Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is definitely worthy of consideration.
Sure, the longtime A-lister always had a penchant for doing his own stunts, but his daredevil scaling of the world’s tallest building literally took his death-defying antics to new heights, to the extent that it makes complete sense Cruise would want to shoot an action movie in outer space, because he’s running out of ways to outdo himself on this planet.
It helps that Ghost Protocol is an incredible action blockbuster, to be fair, with any weaknesses in the “IMF gets disavowed yet again” plot comfortably offset by some of the finest set pieces you’ll see this side of… well, Christopher McQuarrie’s dual-pronged successors Rogue Nation and Fallout.
It’s Ethan Hunt’s fourth globetrotting adventure that’s been scaling the Netflix charts this week, though, with Ghost Protocol currently ranking as the 20th most-watched feature on Netflix’s global charts, having ascended to the Top 10 in 15 countries spread out across three continents per FlixPatrol, which isn’t too shabby.
Not only did it serve as a soft reboot that quickly saw M:I returned to its former status as one of Hollywood’s premiere franchises, but it also gave its leading man and producer the itch to risk life and limb every time he steps in front of the camera, with audiences everywhere becoming the biggest beneficiaries.
