All Quiet on the M-I-Action Front, but...

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2006)

Actually, that is not true at all. The ACTION is a superb extravaganza of adrenaline-pumping, breakneck-speed shake-cam vigour  a shamelessly elaborate model kit assimilated from other movies to provide non-stop thrills en masse. But the story behind the action is the same old riff: when super-sadistic über-villain (Philip Seymour Hoffman) kidnaps someone close to our hero Ethan Hunt (the Cruise), he is forced out of his peaceful retirement to turn back to his violent agent ways... one last time.
This super-villain is international information- and arms dealer Owen Davain and this 'close someone' is none other than Ethan's fiancée Julia (played by next big thing: Michelle Monaghan). M-I-3 thus sees its usually assured agent centre Hunt in a rare vulnerable and human mode which we got a taste of in Woo's M-I-2 when, er, THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED to Thandie Newton. Monaghan is sweeter, more innocent, a nurse, and thereby more effective in the damsel-in-distress position. What is more is that she is blissfully ignorant of Ethan's job, which he actively keeps a secret to her. The film goes to great lengths to instill the 'promising family' image in our love couple with kisses and romantic glances but with the sense of impending doom.
Corny love story aside, the real good news is that director J.J. Abrams (of "Lost" creation) has inexplicably relegated the would-be-ridiculous IMF-trained agent vs. fat guy conflict to an ultimate showdown status. Perhaps this success can best be attributed to Hoffman who effortlessly interweaves his character with a most quiet, calculating lethality. Aside from the Hoff, this installment also boasts of a wide-ranging variety of eccentric supporting actors such as Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Keri Russell, Billy Crudup, Simon Pegg, Laurence Fishburne and the mandatory no-nonsense fellow IMF-agent Ving Rhames  nearly all of which are fun to watch, even though a few of the women tip over into clichéd "tough-chick" territory.
But these characters are a mere window-dressing for a sandbox of action with acrobatic narrative à la Abrams who opens the film with the last climactic scene and interjects introspective flashbacks to keep us on our toes, Lost-style. The script offers new imaginative ways to off people, the most prominent of which being an internally detonating explosive device. Another being a nifty little patch that can suck the life out of you. Undoubtedly, gadget-junkies will cream their pants over the relentless stimulation of high-tech gadgets, weapons and explosions. All of this regrettably elicits more raised eyebrows rather than applause but it keeps up the fast, crisp pace for nearly two hours.
Lastly, what of the Cruise? He plays Ethan with more fierce intensity than ever and his perpetually peppy-looking expression is positively glowing with emotion. Creepy? Yes. Effective? Yes.
Mission Impossible III is the very essence of a manipulative film because it dishes out so much action that it leaves no time at all to reflect on the quality of thw whole thing. The primarily shortcomings are appropriately disguised in a fast-paced entertaining little thing but dissect it, even a little, and it mostly falls apart. There is infinitely more substance than in the second Woo-installment but is it good substance? Not quite. I am therefore completely torn between the grade 6 and 7 here, so imagine it as 6.5 out of 10.
7 out of 10