MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

Here's one of the year's biggest surprises: Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, improbably the series' best entry since its first entertaining, exciting and well-made action-adventure picture.

The Mission: Impossible series is based on the 1960s TV show and Brian DePalma's 1996 movie, followed by two sequels in 2000 and 2006.

The plot is the usual globe-trotting super-adventure, jumping from Russia to Dubai to Bombay and back to America with lots of intrigue and explosions at every stop. Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt, and this time his team consists of Jeremy Renner (from The Hurt Locker), Paula Patton, and Simon Pegg, who reprises his comic relief role from the third film as a computer geek. They're trying to stop a duo of Russian supervillains from setting off nuclear war.

Sure, it's a formula, borrowed from the earlier films, as well as its English cousin James Bond: spy intrigue, gadgets, disguises and elaborate action setpieces.

But Ghost Protocol executes it nearly perfectly, largely thanks to an expert action touch by a director who's never even done it before. It's also always photographed both brilliantly and coherently.

There are numerous highlights – a super tense sequence in which Cruise spends several minutes hanging off a skyscraper in Dubai; a suspenseful scene in which two meetings are taking place in two different hotel rooms; and a sequence, recalling Cruise repelling into the safe room in the first movie, in which Renner does the same. It's all accompanied by a strong score from Pixar/Lost veteran Michael Giacchino, interweaving Lalo Schifrin's original theme into much of it.

No, it's not perfect. The plot and most of the action never veer far from the realm of the totally preposterous, and I had no idea for most of the film which villain was which and what he was trying to accomplish at any given time. And there's a twist at the end that feels both unnecessary and not in keeping with most of the film's tone. Regardless, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol ranks as perhaps 2011's most pleasant surprise.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol is Rated PG, runs 2 hours and 13 minutes, and is currently playing at the following theaters:

Clearview Bellevue 4, 260 Bellevue Ave, Upper Montclair

AMC Clifton Commons, 405 Route 3 East, Clifton (IMAX Screen)

Clearview South Orange 5, 1 Trenchard Pl, South Orange

AMC Essex Green Cinema 9, 495 Prospect Avenue in West Orange

Clearview Caldwell Cinema 4, 315 Bloomfield Ave, Caldwell

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), patriarch of the Swedish industrial dynasty, seeks to solve the 40-year-old murder mystery of his grand-niece, Harriet. This is the lynchpin in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first story based on Stieg Larsson's blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy, opening this week in the English language cinematic adaptation.

It's directed by champion of the alienated and misunderstood (Social Network), famed serial killer specialist, (Seven and Zodiac) David Fincher. The movie stars Bond blondie Daniel Craig and newcomer Rooney Mara in what is a disturbing, (does Fincher make anything else?) darkly thrilling, revenge fantasy and police procedural with complicated characters that is as far removed from the usual holiday fare as any movie this season could get. Murder, and violence and torture. Happy Holidays!

A great avenging Athena, all emotions sent through primal screams and that pierced punk deadpan, Rooney Mara inhabits the movie's namesake Lisbeth Salander with such commitment and believability she captivates the audience and keeps our rapt attention for the slightly overlong 2 hours and 40 minutes. It is her movie.

Daniel Craig isn't just of James Bond and Cowboys vs. Aliens. He cut his teeth on complex acting opportunities like the nouveau film noir Layer Cake and biopic Sylvia. He's in two movies being released within days of each other, Dragon Tattoo and The Adventures of Tintin. Known as a generous actor, he shows himself to be just that by allowing Mara to shine as Dragon's smoldering star, although his reserved single-focused intensity serves the movie perfectly.

This film, rated a hard R, should come with a warning. There are scenes of extreme violence and cruelty involving rape and ritualized killing, and parents with teens might want to watch the movie before allowing them to attend a screening. Fincher has never shied away from the harsh or gruesome, nor does he shy from showing scenes of graphic torture and violence, if it achieves or furthers his aim. Fans of his work in general and of this movie in particular will deny anything is gratuitous, and as uncomfortable as it makes the audience, in the case of Dragon, I'd have to agree.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo may not be for everyone, but it has a stark beauty. The opening credits, which play Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song and show what looks like a black on black (or bleak on black) liquid rorschach morphing into people, warns you you're in for something only Fincher can create.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is rated R, 2 hr. 38 minutes and playing at the following theaters:

Clearview Bellevue 4, 260 Bellevue Ave, Upper Montclair

AMC Clifton Commons, 405 Route 3 East, Clifton

AMC Essex Green Cinema 9, 495 Prospect Avenue in West Orange:

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

It's almost impossible to review Steven Spielberg's new film, The Adventures of Tintin, without referring to his earlier work, the Indiana Jones movies.

Tintin harkens back to those films (which, in themselves, harkened back to the earliest adventure films), delivering a rousing, satisfying journey that will excite all audiences.

The movie follows the adventures of a young journalist, Tintin (Jamie Bell), and his dog Snowy as they become enmeshed in a plot that involves hidden treasure, intrigue and conspiracy.

The animation here is astounding. Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) travel across the world, visiting one beautiful, atmospheric locale after another. The CGI capably provides a world that's a thrill to discover, though the 3D version does it no favors. This film has a beautiful color palette, one that is sadly dulled by 3D (films with the effect are infamously darker than their 2D counterparts). In short, the 3D isn't quite worth the surcharge.

The characters are fantastically well done, ably combining the style of Herge's original Tintin comics with modern computer animation. There's enough detail to catch subtleties in the characters' performances, something that's often lost in CG.

Tintin reasserts Spielberg's place among the top visual storytellers. The action sequences are fantastic, delivered with a wit, humor and sense of timing that often is absent in modern films. There are times when the do-anything possibilities of animation lead to scenes that strain credulity a bit too much, but these scenes (thankfully) don't ruin things.

The movie is kid-friendly, but is not a "kiddy" movie. Characters are frequently in mortal danger, and the bad guys (and occasionally Tintin) carry guns, not walkie-talkies. Captain Haddock's constant drinking is frequently played for comic effect as well.
 

The Adventures of Tintin is rated PG and runs 1 hour, 47 minutes. The movie is currently playing at the following theaters:

AMC Clifton Commons, 405 Route 3 East, Clifton (IMAX Screen / in 3D)

AMC Essex Green Cinema 9, 495 Prospect Avenue, West Orange

(in 3D)

Clearview Caldwell Cinema 4, 315 Bloomfield Ave, Caldwell

YOUNG ADULT

There have been many movies about someone like Mavis Gary. She was the queen bee in high school. She had friends, natural good looks and a stud for a boyfriend. She ran the world.

There have indeed been many movies made about the kind of person Mavis Gary was, but not many films about who that person will become. In the case of Jason Reitman's "Young Adult," Mavis (Charlize Theron) is a bitter, self-absorbed alcoholic, ghost writing a once-popular young adult book series about a popular girl in high school.

When she gets an email from her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), Mavis drives back to her small hometown of Mercury, where she hopes to woo back her old flame. But back home, she is also reunited with former classmate Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt) who, despite sharing neighboring lockers for all four years of high school, she doesn’t remember.  Then she notices his crutch. “Wait,” she says, “you’re the hate-crime boy!”

Indeed he is.  During high school, a group of jocks dragged Matt out to the woods and beat him mercilessly with a crowbar, thinking he was gay.  Matt is still nursing the wounds, both physically and emotionally, left that night.

The best scenes in the film are the ones between Theron and Oswalt. Their sarcastic, wry repartee is funny and quick, but always has a cutting edge to it. But that seems to be a theme with Diablo Cody, the writer, who also penned “Juno," has taken that film’s trademark rapid-fire pop culture references and quirky slang and left them to age and ferment, creating a much more biting, bitter script that’s also a lot more full and mature.

The title character of “Juno” was able to take a bad situation and rise above it, making the audience fall for her in the process. Juno drew us in, Mavis pushes us away. Rarely have I seen a film built around a more unlikable person. We laugh at her, we pity her, but we don’t like her. 

It’s a brave thing for a movie to do, having a main character that is nearly impossible to root for. Oswalt's Matt is incredibly likeable and witty, this is Theron’s movie. She is captivating.

“Young Adult” is a sharp film that’s too dark and deep to be comfortably called a comedy. In fact, it’s closer to “Greenburg” than “Juno.” It has many laughs too, but they are all based in pathos and uncomfortable silences. Parts of it fall a bit flat or are under written, but the parts that work do so amazingly well.  And besides, we all love seeing a mean girl get her comeuppance. 

Young Adult; is Rated R, 1 hour, 34 minutes and is currently playing at the following theaters:

Clearview Clairidge Cinemas, 486 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair

AMC Clifton Commons, 405 Route 3 East, Clifton

Mission: Impossible -Ghost Protocol reviewed by Stephen Silver for Norristown Patch.com

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo reviewed by Leslie Combemale for Herndon Patch.com

The Adventures of Tintin reviewed by Mike Gleason for Caldwells Patch.com

Young Adult reviewed by Noah Golden for Milford Patch.com