Mission Impossible III Movie Review

Writer/director JJ Abrams, the man behind Felicity, Alias and Lost, has reason to be very proud of his feature film directorial debut. Abrams took a franchise that was dinged up and created a film which…dare I say it…is better than the previous two Mission Impossible movies. Nonsensical plot aside, Mission Impossible III is exactly the right action-powered, adrenaline pumping, entertaining blockbuster movie needed to kick off the summer movie season.

Ethan Hunt’s no longer doing field work and instead is training agents in this third film of the Mission Impossible series. He’s also developed a personal life outside of IMF and is engaged to Julia (Michelle Monaghan), a beautiful nurse who believes her future husband analyzes the flow of traffic for a living.

By this point in his career, Hunt should realize that when you’re a super spy – even one who is semi-retired – a normal life isn’t part of the picture. Celebrating at his engagement party, Hunt gets word he’s needed for yet another impossible mission. The job, which he chooses to accept, reunites him with his buddy Luther (Ving Rhames). Along with a couple of new team members – Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q) – Hunt and Luther set out to rescue a kidnapped agent (Keri Russell) and bring down uber-villain, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Hunt’s fiancée Julia soon learns orange cones and traffic patterns have nothing to do with her hubby-to-be’s business when she is taken hostage by Davian, a high-powered arms dealer with soulless eyes who’d rather kill you than engage in small talk. If Hunt doesn’t do what Davian commands, then Julia’s a goner. With the odds stacked against them, the team has 48 hours to track down a top secret item and deliver it to Davian or else Hunt can forget about making any more wedding plans.

Abrams and his fellow screenwriters, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, do a fantastic job of parceling out the action to supporting players and not just focusing all the attention on Cruise as Ethan Hunt. This is a real team effort and in that sense is more like the TV series than either of the previous film adaptations. The guys behind MI3 also let us celebrate our inner geekiness by showcasing the cool gadgets and disguises used by the IMF agents. Watching a mask of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s face created is almost as impressive as watching Cruise and his team dodge missiles and face down heavily armed enemies on a bridge packed with innocent commuters.

Not mentioning the fact Mission Impossible III comes with a lot of baggage would be like trying to ignoring the man jumping up and down on the couch on national TV. Aside from Cruise’s couch antics, his public battles with other celebs, and the recent birth of his first biological child by decades-younger actress Katie Holmes, you can’t overlook the more relevant fact that Mission Impossible II was a real stinker. Even without Cruise’s eccentric behavior, Mission Impossible III had a major battle ahead of it to prove the franchise is still viable.

By not trying to imitate the previous two films and instead relying on what made the TV show a success, and by making the characters more human, Mission Impossible III gets things 90% right. Points are subtracted for too many irritating close-ups (do we really need to be able to count Tom Cruise’s nose hairs?) and a couple bits of unnecessary conversation between supporting players when all we really want is action, action, and more action.

Cruise is in top form as Hunt, nailing the action scenes as well as the ones that require a little more emotional stretch. Academy Award-winner Hoffman is perfect as MI3’s villain, turning in yet another in a long line of strong performances.

Try and ignore any resemblance Monaghan has in age or looks to Cruise’s offscreen squeeze as she’s terrific in the role of Hunt’s love interest. Maggie Q, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and the ever-dependable Ving Rhames combine to create a believable super spy team. And Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup don’t have much to do in supporting roles, which is unfortunate. But the film’s real scene-stealer is Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg. Pegg chews it up as a hyper-active tech guy who loves his job.

Mission Impossible III captures the tone of the classic television show yet never takes itself too seriously. Where the first two films played things pretty straight, this edition mixes in more humor and heart. Abrams and Cruise have succeeded in creating a thrill ride of a film and the perfect summer popcorn movie for those who like their films packed with non-stop action.

GRADE: A-

Mission Impossible 3 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence & menace, disturbing images & some sensuality.