It's way better than the second one and it offers many exciting and tense moments

Rating: 7/10 (28 November 2006)

Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) are back, this time trying to take down a ruthless arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who kidnaps Hunt's fiancé (Michelle Monaghan), in an attempt to use that against him.
Mission: Impossible was a good film that actually made the viewer think although the action was only mediocre. Mission: Impossible 2 was a textbook example of style over substance. There was plenty of eye candy and action scenes but everything else was very weak. Mission: Impossible 3 combines the strengths of the first two and it pays off. This latest installment is the best in the series. It offers plenty of action, suspense and thrills. Sure, the film isn't entirely original and there are a few corny moments but it's still a solid action film especially in a decade that hasn't really had a lot to offer from this genre.
The screenplay was an improvement over the second one yet it still had a feeling of "been there, done that". The whole mask twist actually worked again despite the repetitiveness of it. One thing that didn't work was the twist with the second bad guy being a member of I.M.F. They have already used this idea and using it again made the ending kind of weak. Also, the character was really lame and not very effective. The majority of the dialog was good except for some stupid one-liners but this is really just nitpicking and it didn't subtract from the quality of the movie. I really like the way director J.J. Abrams handled the pacing and action sequences. He started the film off with a bang and he never really let it slow down. He created many wonderful and entertaining scenes like the bridge scene and the sequence at The Vatican.
The acting was good and it marked an improvement over the second one. Tom Cruise was very good as Ethan Hunt. To put it mildly, he has generated a lot of negative press though he is still a terrific actor. Phillip Seymour Hoffman created a scary villain. He was effective without going over the top and he was a good match for Tom Cruise's character. Michelle Monaghan couldn't have been more boring. Also, her scary resemblance to Katie Holmes was a bit distracting and she was clearly a miscast. Her bland performance didn't hurt the film too much though. Kerri Russell was also a miscast. I didn't really buy her as an agent although she didn't get a lot of screen time. Both Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers gave okay performances though they didn't get a lot of screen time and their characters weren't developed very well. Lastly, Billy Crudup gave a mediocre performance, nothing special at all. Overall, I recommend checking out Mission Impossible 3. Once in awhile, a good entertaining film that doesn't require too much thought is what a person needs and this one fit's the bill. 8/10