"Mission: Impossible III" is a brainless and typical big budget summer action flick with a great performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Rating: 6/10 (7 May 2006)

I'll be honest right from the beginning. I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise or the "Mission Impossible" movies. The first movie was decent but nothing that needed a sequel. The second one was all special effects and action and had no substance. So, I didn't really have any interest in seeing the third installment other than to see how Philip Seymour Hoffman does at playing a bad guy. Now with that being said I will start my review of the third and hopefully final installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.
Super spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back in the third installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. This time around, Ethan has retired from the IMF because he wants to get married to Julia (Michelle Monaghan) and settle down and have a family. In order to keep a job, he takes on the role of training new agents and preparing them to go into the field. However, Ethan is called back into action when Lindsey (Keri Russell) is kidnapped. But it seems the kidnapping is just the icing on the cake as Ethan soon discovers that Owen Davian, (Philip Seymour Hoffman) an international weapons dealer is looking for a weapon known as the "rabbit's foot" and will stop at nothing to get it. An unrealistic but some what entertaining movie ensues
I can't really say that I liked "Mission: Impossible III" overall but I can't say that I disliked it either. This movie is really a mixed bag. "Mission: Impossible III" is very entertaining and action packed but at the same time there is little if any substance to it and is extremely over the top and far-fetched. I mean seriously how many times can Ethan not get hurt or killed? He is riding in a car and then the road explodes and the car flips over and a ton of people are dead but not Ethan, he doesn't have a scratch on him. It's hard sitting through this movie after a while because it's just so far-fetched and Ethan never seems to be hurt by anything from falling off a 200 story building to having his car blow up, nothing hurts this guy. It's ridiculous.
Also a lot of this movie was extremely cheesy. Some of the lines that Cruise spit out were awful. The whole Humpty Dumpty line was horrendous. Also the film was so unintentionally funny because of poor directing, editing and writing. The whole ending was unintentionally funny because it was so incredibly lame and the director had no idea how to shoot a person giving CPR.
On the plus side, "Mission: Impossible III" does have Philip Seymour Hoffman who is the best damn thing about the movie. He plays the bad guy role perfectly and I have to admit I enjoyed the scene where Hoffman was kicking the crap out of Tom Cruise. I think Hoffman's talent showed in this film even though he didn't have much to work with. He just played the bad guy role perfectly because he seemed so heartless and evil. I think he did a great job although I hope he sticks to movies like "Capote" but I understand that's not where the money is so why not do a cheesy blockbuster like "Mission: Impossible III" every once in a while to earn some big money. I just hope he does more independent work than mainstream because I see the man earning a few more Oscars in his life as long as he continues to make solid movies.
I also have to admit I was pretty entertained by the film for the most part. Like I said yes it was unbelievable but then again I wasn't expecting a realistic film when I walked into the theater. I think if the movie just tried a little harder to have some substance to it, it would have been better. While action scenes are cool and entertaining, too many of them can become boring. And towards the end I felt bored by the unstop action. I just wanted some story to go along with it, but I guess that was asking too much.
So in the end, "Mission: Impossible III" is probably the best one of the three however that's not saying that another sequel is necessary. I really think this franchise needs to call it quits because there are no more stories to be told. This one ends in the typical Hollywood manner but it should end where they left it. However, if this movie does do well, although at this point, I doubt it will make its 185 Million Dollar budget, I can sadly see how they can make another one but I hope that doesn't happen. "Mission: Impossible III" is your typical summer popcorn flick so don't go in expecting something great and you should be somewhat satisfied.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Mission: Impossible III" is a 6/10. I feel Philip Seymour Hoffman performance and seeing him kick the crap out of Tom Cruise is worth the admission price at least at a matinée.