Thanks to huge explosions and a fast-paced plot, Mission: Impossible III is one rollercoaster ride of a popcorn action movie that manages to be entertaining from start to finish.
Give credit to director J.J. Abrams and thank him for making a film that goes above the pattern established in the first two movies. His turn in the director’s chair delivers a film that is possibly the best impossible mission to date. This movie looks slick, moves fast, and features enough big stunts to help you forget the fact that many people find its lead star Tom Cruise so annoying.
Of course, Cruise also gets help from a great cast of solid actors including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Keri Russell, and Laurence Fishburne. This large cast helps the movie’s spotlight shine less on its main star, and gives it more of a team feeling – which is what made the television series so great.
The film’s plot (which Abrams had a hand in writing) finds a now semi-retired Ethan Hunt (Cruise) about to be married, and working as a trainer for the agency. He is pulled back into the world of high-speed espionage after an agent he trained goes missing, and Hunt is sent in to bring her back. This opens up to an even larger plot where Hunt is forced to square off against the film’s bad guy – an international arms dealer named Owen Davian (Hoffman).
As Hunt begins his quest to take down Davian, his fiancé is pulled into his dangerous world, and the rollercoaster ride does its third loop. Hunt is forced to “betray” his agency or risk losing his fiancé – Davian promises to kill her in front of Hunt’s eyes if the super-spy doesn’t get him the “rabbit’s foot.” While parts of the plot are weak, the movie is filled with plenty of action, and leaves you wanting Mission: Impossible IV – even if we may be seeing Cruise in the role for the last time.
Abrams knows how to craft a slick popcorn spy flick
Although Cruise’s off-camera behavior has soured some of the public from wanting to see him on screen, Mission: Impossible III is worth watching. Abrams jumps from television to the big screen nicely with the film, and uses his experiences on a little show called Alias to craft a fun spy thriller. Yes, the plot is a bit of a throwaway, but all of the Mission Impossible plots are disposable. The films aren’t meant to be a realistic look at being a spy, but are simply meant to shut the brain off and enjoy some big stunts with lots of explosions.
Cruise knows how to handle the character of Ethan Hunt, and the film is pretty much him playing the guy the same way he did in the first two movies. Although there are changes made to his character, Cruise plays Hunt as pretty much the same driven guy that is capable of handling any situation no matter how impossible it may seem.
Once again, he is benefited with having the likeable Luther Stickell (Rhames) join him on his quest to keep the world safe for 125 minutes. Rhames continues his “cool guy” motif that he established for the character in the first two films, and once again does a good job balancing out Cruise’s line chewing intensity.
Although Mission: Impossible has always been a Cruise franchise, much of the third film’s enjoyment is due to Hoffman’s villain. When I first heard he was cast as the film’s bad, I had my doubts. Could a character actor like Hoffman (who had just captured Truman Capote so well) handle being a villain in such a slick action flick?
Not only does he handle the role, he makes the movie worth watching. Lines that could have come across as cheesy are delivered with honest threat. A character that could have been simply a waste of time is actually the most interesting part of the film. Hoffman creates a bad guy with no real remorse about anything he does. He is simply out for the money and will kill anyone in his way.
When Hunt gets in his way, Hoffman coldly promises to kill both Hunt and his fiancé. He delivers the lines with a deadpan cool that will make your spine chill, and leave no doubts that he is serious about the threat. Hands down, Hoffman is the main reason to watch this movie.
The film is filled is a rollercoaster ride filled with huge stunts
Although I enjoyed the third film, it does have some problems. Most can be ignored by just turning the brain off and enjoying the movie for what it is. However, the film’s ending is extremely weak and just too far-fetched. This ruined quite a bit of my enjoyment of the movie. I don’t want to go into more detail and spoil the film’s ending, but needless to say it was a bit of a letdown after everything had been building for so long.
Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition DVD comes loaded with tons of special features that fans of the movie, the franchise and Cruise will enjoy. If you are not a big Cruise fan, the features might get a bit on your nerves before you finish them all.
The first disc includes commentary with Abrams and Cruise, and features the standard shop talk and joking stories about the film. There is also a 29 minute inside look at the making of the movie, and five deleted scenes – which don’t really add anything. There is also a nine minute Tribute Montage: Excellence in Film which is easily forgettable.
The second disc continues the inside look at the making of the film with six featurettes that divide up the different aspects of the movie – from the stunts to the film’s score. The Tribute Montage: Generation: Cruise might be a little too much for some viewers to handle and is from the 2005 MTV Movie Awards.
Hoffman’s bad guy is the reason to watch the film
Overall, Mission: Impossible III is probably the best of the franchise, and is easily entertaining if you want something over-the-top that requires next to no thought to enjoy. Abrams and Cruise have crafted a film that is simply fun to watch.
Mission: Impossible III is now available at Amazon . The Two Disc Collector’s Edition is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Nov. 6th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story