Better than the first 2

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2006)

Although I'd consider myself a minor fan of the jolt-action genre, the Mission: Impossible series have always had some sort of affect on me. I'll admit that the second part was not that great, I had to watch the third since JJ Abrams was the director. Being a typical 'Lost' fan, I was actually quite impressed with Mission: Impossible III.
Paying homage to the genius that is 'Lost,' JJ Abrams found a way to not only team up with his 'Alias' partner to write the screenplay, but also throw constant action in our face that not only had us on the edge of our seats but intricately wove together a more deep encounter that made me always wonder: What next! Mission: Impossible III explores the never ending work of Ethan Hunt (Cruise) who now has to face a much more villainous weapons provider super-creepy antagonist (Seymour Hoffman). Althuogh this time around, Ethan has to protect his identity not only from the whole world but also from the closest thing to him: his girlfriend.
I was expecting yet another eye-candy, in-your-face, "edge of the seat" thriller, but what I got was a roller-coaster ride that just seemed to never slow down! Tom Cruise delivers an actually very good performance, as a daring super-spy who undergoes an impossible task, risking not only his and his partners' lives, but also his fiancé's. Almost each scene in the movie jets out a nerve wracking frenzy, this isn't your typical car exploding, plane chasing, run for your life movie, and though all of those things are present, Abrams finds a way to have multiple things happening in one scene. When Ethan and his team attempts to escape the chasing plane at the beginning of the movie, the hostage (Russell) screams in agony while an explosive chip is implanted in her head, and as the plane is crashing into this never-ending thrill ride, we see that there is humanity in the characters.
The movie is pretty complex and you have to pay close attention to follow through. Even with Cruise's inability to follow his mission due to personal problems, we see the drive in his character and the undertone of trust that occurs throughout.
The movie is definitely a 'pop-corn' flick, but I'd say it's much more than that. I'd say to some extent, M:I3 is an extremely fun, complex, beautifully directed movie.
Kudos Abrams!