Brad Bird wants to help you love the movies again.

And I don’t mean film in the academic sense. I mean movies. Big, loud, fun, slightly insane movies. Movies with explosions and fast cars and fabulous locales and women in tight dresses. Not to put too fine a point on it, movies with balls.

And Bird has decided to take his stand for the good, old-fashioned action flick, and make his live-action film debut, using a tired, 15-year-old franchise starring a manic Scientologist entering middle age. Frankly it sounds like the perfect recipe for disaster. And it very well could have been, in another director’s hands. But Bird uses deft sense of storytelling, a visionary skill with the IMAX camera, and a healthy dose of humor elevate what could have been a flop to the best action film of the year.

Part of “Ghost Protocol’s” merit lies with Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec’s script- the plot is tight, complicated enough to keep your interest, but simple enough to keep you from getting tied up in knots. Instead of the overwrought cat-and-masked mouse game of earlier films,the problem is simple: a terrorist named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) has stolen nuclear launch codes, blown up the Kremlin and blamed it on spy agency IMF. The entire agency has been disavowed, including the legendary Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), who puts together a team to steal back the codes.

That’s it. No weird kidnapping scenarios, no Jon Voight. Without over-complicating the plot, Bird leave enough room to let the movie breathe and create truly stunning action set-pieces. The best take place in Dubai- Bird uses the surreal landscape of an adult playground in the middle of the desert to great effect. A scene where Cruise has to scale the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is possibly the most thrilling, terrifying sequence I’ve seen this year- and a later chase scene through a dust storm isn’t far behind.

Say what you want about Tom Cruise (and there’s plenty to say), but he knows how to command a scene. Ethan Hunt isn’t exactly riveting by himself. Like Jason Bourne, and James Bond before them, the expert spy is only as interesting as the people and places around him. Cruise understands that limitation and knows how to work with it. Whatever he is in his personal life, in his career he’s nothing less than a consummate professional. He’s backed up by Paula Patton, making the most of the token hottie agent role, Simon Pegg, reprising his role as the comic relief techie, and of course Jeremy Renner, whose expressive eyes and fancy krav maga moves are worth the price of admission all by themselves. Renner is the only one who is capable of taking the spotlight from Cruise, with a slow-burn energy that will treat him well as he continues his ascent to stardom.

It’s not all gold. There’s a silly portion involving Renner’s character’s past, and a bizarrely out-of-place end scene that should have been cut out completely. There’s also the usual continuity/believability issues, but really why should we care how Ethan and his team get from Russia to Dubai when their entire agency has been shut down? Ignoring those little problems are part of the fun. Logistics are for suckers.

So bring on the explosions and the car chases and Paula Patton in a cut-out dress! Brad Bird is here and he wants to make goddamn movie. Give yourself a present this Christmas, and see it on the biggest screen you can find.

It appears Hollywood has a big crush on Boston nowadays, with a slew of movies being filmed in Boston or even about the city popping up more and more regular than ever before. “The Town” is just another example of that love affair.

The film is directed, co written and starred by the golden boy of Boston himself, Ben Affleck. The movie takes place and was filmed in Charlestown and revolves around a crew of bank robbers. Doug MacRay (Affleck) is the leader of the pack, which also includes his best friend Jem (Jeremy Renner).

Doug’s life changes when he falls in love with bank manager Claire Kessey (Rebecca Hall) after robbing her bank and briefly keeping her hostage. Unbeknown to Claire, she carries on a relationship with a man that has caused her much strife. Doug soon must choose between the woman he loves and his friends when he wants to leave the town for good.

Affleck’s directing shines in his second film, proving “Gone Baby Gone” was more than a stroke of luck. Affleck perfectly balances between the pristine historical beauty and the Irish grit of Boston.

His directing is certainly better than his writing (and sometimes his acting). The movie has a perfect pace to it that keeps the viewers entertained.

Affleck is strong as Doug MacRay. It’s obvious that Doug doesn’t belong in Charlestown and could do way better for himself than being a bank robber but doesn’t know how to cut ties with his family of criminals. His romance with Claire, while a little far fetch, comes off as endearing and genuine. Much of that can be accredited to Hall who shines in the role as Claire. Hall brings a mix of fragility and strength that is hard to find in Hollywood.

Jon Hamm is believable as the brooding FBI agent wanting to pin down the bad guys. Blake Lively leaves the Upper East Side and gossip girl to play Affleck’s old flame and looks ridiculous in the oversize hoop earrings, overdone blue eye shadow grouped with a bad Boston accent.

The breakout performance belongs to Renner, who intertwines a harsh exterior and a devil may care attitude with a humor that makes you like a character that can scare you to death. Every scene Renner is in belongs to him, and the viewer tends to pay more attention than any other actor, including Affleck.

The only thing the movie is really lacking is a powerful ending. As the movie creeps closer and closer to the end, the viewer keeps waiting to be smacked in the face with a cathartic surprise that never comes. This does work a bit in the film’s favor, because it leaves the viewer wanting for more, but we think that a commanding ending would have made this overall entertaining movie a more compelling piece of cinema.

Beneath the action blockbuster (cough “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”) that graced the screen recently hides this mispackaged gem. Every piece of advertising I have seen on “The Hurt Locker” has pushed it as a war packed shoot’em up but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This film isn’t about explosions or tactics, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

“The Hurt Locker” stars Jeremy Renner and focuses on a small Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD), whose job it is to diffuse bombs in Iraq. Yes, it does have its fair share of violence and explosions, but don’t be expecting a Schwarzenegger-style hero spouting off one-liners in between amazing feats of strength. Expect real people in real bad situations.

Renner plays William James, a staff sergeant who straps on his bomb suit at every opportunity. James is a bit unstable, but a good leader when he’s letting his adrenaline junkie side take the reins. His foil, and second-in-command, is the level headed Sergeant JT Sanborn played by Anthony Mackie. Sanborn certainly starts off as more of the hard-nosed solider type, but goes though some severe changes during the movie. That’s where this differs from other war movies. It doesn’t tell us that war changes people, but rather shows us.

It also shows that some men are just meant for war, and they take it differently. The richness and depth of these two characters is certainly the selling point of this film. You get dragged along their emotional gambit. You understand that Sanborn’s business-like approach is to shield himself and the others from the real horrors going on around them. You understand that James is an addict that has been changed into a walking casualty of war.

And while it is a war movie, it isn’t as preachy as one would expect. There is little to do with the traditional war themes, or even political themes. This film isn’t out to prove a point about the Iraq War, or any war for that matter. With just a little script editing, this film could easily be about the Gulf War or the Vietnam War. The setting is wonderful, and I commend them on actually going to the Jordon to get the true middle-east feel to it, but the story and characters are strong enough to survive on their own.

This movie is shot in a style very similar to a documentary, and it leads us to become more immersed in the world of this EOD team. With it’s over the shoulder shots and most of the focus being James, it almost feels as if this is being told in first person. By the time the bombs go off, the watcher is too far engrossed to be pulled away. The grit of the sand covers the actors, and the heat waves stand in the way of the camera lens. Never before have I seen a movie express heat so well, and it only furthers to pull you in.

There are bomb explosions and gunfire in the movie, but the scariest parts are when there isn’t an explosion on the screen. As James approaches each bomb, there is a feeling that this will be the last. Normally there is an unwritten rule that takes a lot of the tension out of movie: The main character can’t die until the end. This rule isn’t true here. There isn’t a safe moment. At no point did I feel as if any member of the EOD team was invulnerable. It leads to an incredible amount of stomach turning tension. When the realistic explosions finally do hit, that tension is released. You feel good that they succeeded or bad that failed.

This movie will undoubtedly be considered heavily for Oscar treatment, and it should. I tried to find faults to pick at, but those that were there were few and far between. It is a great action movie, yet still has both plot and heart. Director Kathryn Bigelow has made a magnificent must see film, and the best film about the Iraq War yet. Stylish, meaningful and gritty, this type of film that wins award, yet still has enough mainstream appeal to make its way out of the art houses and into the big screens nationwide.

NEW YORK — Of the previews and screening at NY Comic-con, one film stood apart and out of place from the rest. Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker,” is about an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) that is stationed in Iraq during the current war.

Comic-con has grown from a convention featuring solely comic books to include video games, movies and television shows, but all have a similar nerdy trend that ties them together.

“The Hurt Locker,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow (“Point Break,” “The Weight of Water”) and starring Jeremy Renner, is a serious, weighty film that already has earned critical acclaim at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.

At Comic-con, Blast had an opportunity to sit down with Renner and talk about the long and difficult filming process the film required, which took place over three months in Jordon.

For the film, Renner spent weeks training with an actual EOD team, and found out they weren’t like he was expecting.

“First I was in shock at how, for lack of other words, nerdy they are,” said Renner when describing them and how they operate.

They weren’t the stereotypical meatheads he expected, but rather interesting people with stories and lives like everyone else.

In the movie, Renner plays Staff Sergeant William James, a hot shot bomb diffuser. Renner said that it took a while for him to fully develop the character. Despite jut being a “cowboy” on the surface, as the movie goes on, James becomes more of a person, and that took some work to develop.

Much like the actual EOD team that they shadowed and trained with, these characters aren’t what they appear on the outside. They are people, with the war as a backdrop, not the same soldiers with different names.

Renner made it clear that this was a war movie, not a critique on a war many have come to despise. It’s about the people in these poor situations, not about any of the politics of war.

That fact might save this movie from damning reviews that other movies set in the Iraq war have received. It isn’t political; it isn’t about why the war happened, but rather about three people getting through their time in the sun soaked desert.

Renner discussed how his roles in “The Hurt Locker” and “SWAT” familiarized him with military knowledge, specifically with gun use.

He seemed a bit tense when this subject came up saying only “Do I love guns? I think they are interesting” and explaining a respect for the tool.

The mood got a lot lighter when the discussion of the movie’s signature bomb suit came up. For everyone who hasn’t seen an EOD bomb suit, picture a cross between the first Russian cosmonaut suits and the old deep sea diver suits. The suit weighs over 100 pounds, and is meant to absorb the impact of a bomb detonated mere feet away.

Renner said the suit was so heavy his “whole body and spirit were crushed under it’s weight.”

Eventually, he said, the suit became an escape for him. Inside its giant bell of a helmet, he watched the world go by while listening to Beethoven. Explaining that the suit was 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the already scorching Jordon, made him feel unbreakable. When he finally would take the suit off, it was felt like taking a dip into a pool, he said.

Renner said the crew behind “The Hurt Locker” was one of the best crews be has ever worked with and they ended up becoming close because they were filming so far away from home.

When questioned about director Bigelow, he said she was the toughest person out there. When the reporters started to laugh at his comment he stopped them, saying that it wasn’t a joke, and he had no idea how she put up with everything, all while under the rays of the hot sun.

Renner said he surprised that Jordon, the United States biggest ally in the Middle East, wasn’t all wind and sand but was actually incredibly westernized. It didn’t have all the amenities the United States is known for, but he was surprised to see that the world was not as far behind as he thought.

Renner is staying in New York after New York Comic-con for some reshoots on “The Unusuals,” a new ABC dramady that follows police detectives who have to solve the unusual cases, hence the name.

He said he also has expressed a lot of interest in the not-yet cast “The Losers,” a film based off the comic of the same name.

Keep an eye on Renner as press for “The Hurt Locker” continues, because he’s going to be huge after it hits theaters and gets the Oscar cred it duly deserves.