"Who are you? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? Whoever she is, I'm gonna find her. I'm gonna hurt her. And then I'm going to kill you right in front of her." - Owen Davian

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2006)

DA-DA-DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM-da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-DA-DA (and so on.) That theme was playing in my head walking into the movie theater today to go see the much anticipated film to start of the summer, Mission: Impossible III. I had heard very positive things about it, and I expected it to have bad acting, an unbelievable plot and out-of-this-world visual effects... I got what I expected. Mission: Impossible III is a loud, exciting fun film with a non-challenging plot. It's purely a guilty pleasure and in my opinion a great start to the SUMMER MOVIE GLUT.
We follow the totally not-gay (haha) Ethan Hunt played by the totally not-gay (ha) not-crazy (ha) Tom Cruise. Hunt is now retired from CIA games and is settling down with his reasonably attractive fiancé...WHEN HE IS CALLED ON TO DO ANOTHER MISSION. The fate of the world may depend on Hunt, as he battles a psychotic criminal mastermind played expertly by recent Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman who is going to get his hands on a deadly nerve agent. Hunt assembles the old team to save the world from Hoffman, in this action-packed high-budget summer blockbuster.
The acting is dreadful of course. Tom Cruise is abominable as always in his role, and Michelle Monaghan is no Glenn Close. Ving Rhames and Laurence Fishburne are solid, the other actors stink, but the real stand-out is the one of the best actors working in the business today, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman is outstanding as the villain who just nails the role and once again blew me away. Watching Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman act together was like watching Dustin Hoffman do a scene with a jack-russell terrier. The comparison is really like that. The plot is real cheesy, and the lovey-dovey scenes with Cruise and his love interest are almost unbearable with laughably corny dialogue that wouldn't even be acceptable for a Taster's Choice coffee commercial. However, the visual effects are AMAZING! The film is worth seeing just for the special effects.
All in all, Mission: Impossible III delivers what it promises -- real good action sequences -- and I can't gripe about that. I just wish they'd find another lead male except Tom Cruise, because I'm getting sick and tired of watching him. He's the absolute worst -- well, not as bad as Keanu Reeves. Grade: B- (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, AZ, 4/23/06)