Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Most people think so. 81% of audiences gave it a thumbs up based on 10,646 votes. Critics agree, scoring it 83%.

Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster. Wikipedia ↗

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is a 2011 American action spy film directed by Brad Bird in his live-action directorial debut, the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, who is disavowed along with the entire IMF after a bombing at the Kremlin is blamed on his team. Operating without any government support, resources, or backup, Hunt and his small team — including analyst Benji Dunn played by Simon Pegg, agent Jane Carter played by Paula Patton, and mysterious analyst William Brandt played by Jeremy Renner — must stop a nuclear extremist from launching a first strike that he believes will bring about world peace through mutually assured destruction.

Ghost Protocol revitalized the franchise through Brad Bird's impeccable sense of spectacle and pacing, creating some of the most thrilling action sequences of the decade. The Burj Khalifa sequence, in which Tom Cruise actually scaled the exterior of the world's tallest building using adhesive gloves at over 1,600 feet, was one of the most jaw-dropping practical stunts in cinema history. Cruise performed the climb himself, and the behind-the-scenes footage of the stunt became almost as famous as the scene itself.

The sandstorm chase in Dubai and the automated parking garage climax demonstrated Bird's ability to create clear, escalating action geometry. Ghost Protocol earned $694 million worldwide on a $145 million budget, making it the highest-grossing entry in the franchise at that time and establishing the template of increasingly audacious practical stunts that would define subsequent installments.