Cocky, sexy, brilliant and incredibly fit young men don't stay that way forever, right? Gets especially difficult past the age of 40, wouldn't you say? But in the case of Ethan Hunt — the main man of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise and one of Tom Cruise's most successful performances - the impossible is: nothing. When the series first kicked off in 1996, Tom Cruise was 34. He is now 49, which means Ethan is about the age when hints about a retirement package at a gated community in Florida wouldn't be all that out of place. But as "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" demonstrates, he's not even thinking about it.
Ethan remains the same — his visibly jutting abs and biceps, that sleek, dark hair waving artistically over chiselled features. And he still sprints like some Jamaican Olympic star, albeit one short of stature. Ethan was created for the movie series and was not in the original TV show. He is one of Hollywood's most successful inventions, which is wondrous, but the true wonder is this: He has never, ever let up being him. Hasn't he ever wanted another job? Another haircut? Take up yoga for a change? Hell, no. There's a reason why Ethan will always be the "best man on the team," a phrase his respective bosses at the secret government agency IMF have repeated to him over the years. He's the best because he's Ethan.
This deep-seated, rather anachronistic me-ism hits an all-time high in this fourth installment in the "Mission: Impossible" movie series. That's because early on in the story, Ethan is informed that the U.S. president has disavowed the IMF and he's on his own, with no government support or funds or an office to call his own. For all intents and purposes, he and his rogue team doesn't exist. They may as well be ghosts.