Tom Cruise and his Ghost Protocol rule the holiday box office.

If you were among the millions holding their collective breath, anxiously waiting to see whether or not Tom Cruise still has “It”—the stamina to pull-off a world-saving impossible mission, and the magnetism to pull-in millions at the box office—you may exhale now.  The numbers are in, and they leave no doubt that Cruise still rules the risky business.  Last weekend, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol debuted exclusively in I-Max, and dominated the weekend despite its limited release.  Wednesday, Protocol  hit traditional 35-millimeter houses, and took-out both Tin-Tin and Dragon-Tattoo girl without breaking a sweat.  Forecasters expect, when the totals appear early Tuesday morning, Cruise and his mission will own the big holiday weekend.

The London Telegraph calls Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol  a “fast-paced, gravity-defying thrill ride,” a phrase which may, for once, under-state the case.  Cruise, who reprises his role as Ethan Hunt for the fourth time, held nothing back.  Among other improbable feats, he scales Burj Khalifia, the world’s tallest building, and then he turns right around and sprints 800 meters right back down.  Director Brad Bird worked his usual magic on the almost-epic saga of four operatives (and their faithful pet) charged with stopping an imminent nuclear strike.  Cool gadgets and wonderfully seductive BMWs, of course, come as standard equipment in the operatives’ packs.  Conveniently for Bird and his crew, the bad guys lead the operative team through “the most urgently photogenic places on earth.

For peak suspense and industrial strength special effects, the operatives plan and execute a super sneaky-stealthy-snarky raid on the Kremlin.  Master of disguises, Cruise slaps on a fake moustache as he impersonates a Russian general—uber deceptive.  Michael Nyquist satisfactorily plays the villain just because the plot more or less requires an in-person bad guy from time to time.  After defying gravity, however, a briefcase-carrying international terrorist seems little more than an afternoon at the office for Hunt and associates.

The calendar and the American hunger for something heroic at the end of a year filled with Casey Anthony and Congressional catatonia combine to drive people into the cineplexes precisely as producers hoped.  The annual take will be down for the second straight year, but Cruise, Spielberg, and even Alvin and the Chipmunks are doing their best to finish the year with a flourish.