Impossible: Abrams succeeding on the Big Screen

Rating: 3/10 (28 May 2006)

With an enormous budget, a host of highly talented actors, and a world encompassing script, making this an excellent film should have been anything but impossible for J.J. Abrams.
Unfortunately, it proves to be precisely that.
The small screen director of "Alias" and "Lost" just can't translate his command of the action to the big screen.
The biggest stunt of the movie, set against the Shangai skyline, tastes of flat beer rather than the shot of Bacardi it ought to be. In fact, nearly every moment meant to punch you in the gut and take your breath away, kicks you in the shin and leaves you annoyed instead. The viewer should be on the edge of the seat, but the viewer is too annoyed to do so.
The sour performances of the talented thespians casted for this movie are equally grimace- inspiring, and smell of the same Abrams contamination.
Hoffman and Cruise were clearly able to use their star-power to rise above Abrams's incompetence in their shared scenes, but any moment with any lesser characters are completely dominated by general ho-hummery.
It's the weakest of the series despite all of the potential it held. If your director lacks vision, then your movie lacks worth.