Instantly Forgettable Piece of Fluff

Rating: 6/10 (26 June 2006)

I saw 'MI:3' on Saturday night. On Sunday morning I had to ask my wife what movie we'd seen. Maybe I'm getting old and the grey cells are fading fast. Or maybe 'MI:3' simply has all the nutritional value of a drive-thru Big Mac.
J.J. Abrams can do the whole government conspiracy/black-ops thing in his sleep. He created 'Alias' after all, which is really just a modern day Mission Impossible anyway, with the same globe trotting story lines, double agents and cunning disguises that Peter Graves used to contend with. He also created 'Lost', which simply transplants the complexities of cold-war political chicanery to a tropical island. J.J. Abrams is the reigning King of the super-spy genre.
So it comes as no surprise that 'MI:3' is a deft mix of all the very best genre clichés culled from John Le Carre, James Bond, and, of course, the original TV series. Personally, however, I got the distinct impression that I'd seen it all before. The fact that the cause of all this drama, the preposterously named 'Rabbit's Foot', is never explained, is a frustrating example of a modern Hitchcockian 'mcguffin' if ever there was one. Most of the characters are poorly written, possessing motivation that stretches even the thread-thin plausibility of the genre, with Billy Crudupp in particular, being unable to explain why he's doing what he's doing.
I suppose I'm asking too much to expect any degree of logic in a movie such as this. But when I see government agents blowing up a bridge packed with civilian witnesses I can't help but role my eyes in disbelief. Are we really expected to believe that those people aren't filming the whole thing on their cell-phones and sending the pictures to CNN before the last helicopter has disappeared over the horizon?
The fluff is, without a doubt, crafted with great expertise. Everything looks beautiful, the CGI is top-notch, and a certain level of suspense is maintained. It's enjoyable and the two hours fly by effortlessly. But in all honesty, it's as light as air and instantly forgettable.