Vague Scene Descriptions From Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Last week, Paramount held a special footage presentation at the Rave 18 IMAX theater in Los Angeles, where they unveiled almost the entire Burj sequence as well as a subsequent foot/car chase through a blinding sandstorm. I walked away very impressed. Finally, someone has given Brad Bird the opportunity to make a big, live-action spy movie, and he's responded with the kind of practical, stunt-heavy brio that got us hooked on the Bond franchise as kids. Working with legendary cinematographer Robert Elswit and the game-for-anything Cruise, Bird makes us feel like we're stuck out there on the tallest building in the world with Ethan Hunt. I don't know how this will play on a regular theater screen, but in IMAX, this sequence feels like an instant classic. Seriously, if you're afraid of heights, make sure one of your friends brought smelling salts. It's insane.

The second sequence finds Hunt chasing someone through a sandstorm that has suddenly engulfed Dubai. This gives Cruise the opportunity to run his ass off onscreen, and finally, drive like a maniac in zero visibility. The sequence climaxes with Cruise using GPS to locate his target, at which point he uses his car as a missile to take his adversary out. Unfortunately for Cruise, the bad guy survives the deadly-looking crash and gets away. And that's where the scene ended.