Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Not counting the second installment of the Mission: Impossible movies (which is a big pile of goat manure), the series is quite thrilling.  While the first is my favorite and the third comes in second place for me, the latest offering, Ghost Protocol, is an action-packed, insanely over-the-top spy thriller with stunning action-sets and awe-inspiring scenery of Budapest and Dubai.
Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise's character and star of the Mission: Impossible series, has gradually morphed into an Americanized version of James Bond.  He knows everything, can do anything, has a gadget for all scenarios, and always supplies a witty retort in whatever situation he finds himself.  Ghost Protocol is likely the most 007-like of all the movies yet as Hunt and his team globe trot from the Kremlin in Moscow to the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai to a wealthy Indian mansion in Mumbai, encountering along the way the most attractive of people the world has to offer.
Ghost Protocol stars Cruise, Jeremy Renner (who is believed to be the heir apparent for when Cruise decides to step away from the franchise), Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Michael Nyqvist.  Pegg returns from the third film and is likely known for his roles in the 2009 Star Trek reboot or the zombie-comedy Shaun of the Dead.  Brad Bird, director of Pixar favorites The Incredibles and Ratatouille, makes his live-action directorial debut.
As long as you are willing to suspend all disbelief, leaving no room for doubt that the human race has limitations to pain or technological advancement, Ghost Protocol is a two-hour-long action sequence that forgoes story or characterization for intense fights, mind-blowing explosions, and infeasible stunts.  The solo climb outside the Burj Khalifa tower and a rousing battle in an automated multi-level parking garage are alone worth the admission price.
The Mission: Impossible movies will never be serious award contenders (excluding the possibility of visual and sound effects praise), but what they deliver in cheap stimulation and heart-racing good times is what the audience should be wanting from this kind of movie.  And in my estimation, Ghost Protocol delivers on a grandiose scale.