A Two-Hour Episode of Alias

Rating: 6/10 (14 May 2006)

Brian De Palma's 1996 screen adaptation of the television series Mission: Impossible was pretty much perfect, in my opinion. It was a tense, intriguing action thriller that struck an impeccable balance of taut, gritty suspense and campy fun. Then, in 2000, John Woo came along and gave us a ridiculous action sequel riddled with pointless slow motion and excessive style. When I heard J.J. Abrams was going to be at the helm of the third installment, I felt a mix of curiosity, optimism, and skepticism. On the one hand, I figured he would at least get rid of that horrible slow motion action rubbish, but on the other hand, I was afraid he would forget the fun and give us a film that was too realistic and gritty. And I always doubt the ability of TV directors to make the jump to cinema. Then, as I expected, Abrams began talking about how he wanted to "humanize" the characters. Uh oh.
Then I heard Philip Seymour Hoffman was going to be portraying the villain. I didn't care about the rest anymore  that got me VERY excited.
After seeing the film, I have to say that it was exactly what I expected.
The plot revolves around IMF (Impossible Mission Force) agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and Owen Davian (Hoffman), a mysterious guy with a lot of money  they never really tell us just who exactly he is. Hunt is now engaged to be married (and might I add that I found it weird that the actress portraying his fiancé bears a strange resemblance to Katie Holmes)  Abrams plot device to humanize him, of course  but IMF wants him back to rescue an agent captured by Davian. Hunt gets sucked back into the fray as Davian kidnaps his fiancé and implants an explosive charge in his head (yep, you heard me).
First off, the cast is fantastic. Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Jonathon Rhys Meyers, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, Simon Pegg  wonderful! And they all give good performances, especially Hoffman, who is every bit as cold and menacing as you would expect. He never fails to impress me.
But, unfortunately, Abrams really doesn't deliver. As I feared, Mission: Impossible III doesn't feel like a Mission: Impossible movie, but a long episode of "Alias". Abrams doesn't seem to know how to use a tripod or keep the camera further than two inches away from the actors' mugs. Despite how bad it was, at least Mission: Impossible II felt like a movie. What destroys the cinematic atmosphere even further is the hiring of Michael Giacchino to compose the score. Lalo Schifrin's classic theme isn't utilized nearly enough, and all of the music inevitably sounds like it's straight out of "Alias". I just wasn't feeling it.
Expectedly, Abrams uses a load of pointless and clichéd plot twists (which I won't go into for the sake of spoilers), but where he really fails is in the film's action. At first I thought Abrams was going for a gritty, realistic, and brutal approach, but then he throws in some superhuman jumping moments and whatnot, so then I became confused. Is this supposed to be realistic action or suspend-my-disbelief-and-have-fun action? It becomes this awkward limbo between the two, and it never really clicks.
And then there is his attempt to "humanize" the characters. I have no problem with this concept, but Mission: Impossible III is simply the wrong vehicle to convey it. This is supposed to be an action thriller, not a soap opera. Again, Mission: Impossible III feels like "Alias" in this respect.
Overall, Mission: Impossible III is a reasonably enjoyable way to kill two hours, but you could just watch the first two episodes of "Alias" and get the same effect. I hope the next installment can get the series back to its roots. Bring back De Palma!