Could have been so much better so easily

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2006)

I loved the old Mission Impossible TV series, and was so disappointed in the first two movies that I probably would not have seen this one if my partner hadn't wanted to go. Action movies are okay, but I prefer them to have plot and humor (True Lies, The Rock, etc).
My biggest complaint about this movie is the first 5 minutes. Before the opening credits, we see Ethan handcuffed to a chair while the bad guy (played wonderfully by Philip Seymour Hoffman) threatens to kill a woman who clearly matters to Ethan. He gets to 10 and shoots her in the head. Okay, now we can jump back in time and tell the story.
I found myself thinking repeatedly throughout the movie that I'd be a lot more engaged if I didn't know that we were working toward that scene. We know Ethan's not going to drop Davian out of the plane -- he has to survive for that later scene. There's no suspense when Ethan tries to get to Julia before she's kidnapped -- we *know* they're going to succeed in picking her up.
If you're a fan of big action sequences, by all means go to see this film. But if you like your action to come with actual character development, intelligence, and a bit of real suspense, don't bother.