The Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol publicity machine is kicking into high gear. We’ve had the excitement-building first trailer and the vertigo-inducing IMAX poster. Now we have the full-throttle second trailer for the latest blockbuster in the Mission: Impossible series.

Directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and staring the one and only Tom Cruise, this trailer showcases in greater detail the predicament the IMF team find themselves in this time around, and what they plan to do about it. Unfortunately we also find out how long the fantastic Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) will be in the film… not long at all, by all accounts.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6vmRNAUsE

This is much more of a standard action trailer. It certainly ticks all the boxes, but it left me feeling that this film may be ‘all mouth and no trousers’, as they say. I really liked the first trailer, with its raw and gritty edge. Having said that, no matter which way they go, I’m sure Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol will still be a great ride. I do hope they polish some of those special effects before its release though. A couple of shots look a tad ropey.

Having seen too many ordinary action films in recent years, I’m really hoping this one will be a cut above. Surely that’s not too much to ask?

So does this second trailer raise or lower your hopes for the film? Did you have any hopes to being with?

 This is not just another mission. The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Ethan Hunt and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization’s name. No help, no contact, off the grid. You have never seen a mission grittier and more intense than this.

Directed by Brad Bird and produced by J.J. Abrams, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker), Tom Wilkinson, Paula Patton (Mirrors), Josh Holloway (TV’s Lost), Lea Seydoux (Robin Hood), Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire).

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol hits New Zealand cinemas on 15 December – a full day before its US release.