Much Better Than the First Two.

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2015)

Mission: Impossible 3 (2006): Dir: J.J. Abrams / Cast: Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell: Easily the best of the series with a rousing opening sequence that exceeds anything done in the previous two films. Tom Cruise returns as agent Ethan Hunt who is engaged but he doesn't reveal the nature of his work. His mission is to capture an arms dealer and the beauty of the screenplay is how this both works and backfires throwing many surprise turns along the way including a knockout conclusion. Director J.J. Abrams succeeds in humanizing the material as oppose to the nonsense of part 2. Cruise is at his best here because Hunt faces personal dilemmas regarding his work and personal life. Phillip Seymour Hoffman steals the film as the villain who has Hunt's fiancé kidnapped in a scene that doubles back on itself. Michelle Monaghan is featured as Hunt's fiancé who struggles to understand Hunt's distant behaviour, but she will ultimately rise to the occasion when the stakes are high. Other roles are flat although Ving Rhames returns as part of Hunt's team as well as Keri Russell whom Hunt trained. While this is an improvement over the first two films, it is still a routine action film. It just happens to be more intelligent and much better written than the junk that proceeded it. High energy action that accomplishes more than the mission. Score: 7 ½ / 10