All an action movie should be

Rating: 8/10 (20 May 2006)

Mission Impossible 3
With each movie in a series attempting to up the bar of the first two, it wouldn't have been easy to get the idea of Mission: Impossible 3 being a disappointment. After all, it would be hard to top either the intrigue and suspense of the first film, or the heart-pounding, back to basics action sequences of the second, especially with a first time director at the helm. However, J.J. Abrams, creator of such TV shows "Alias" and "Lost" turns out to know what he's doing a lot more than one might give him credit for, creating in the end a very solid and wonderfully enjoyable action flick.
In terms of action sequences, M:I3 definitely ups the ante over the first two, even the second's motorcycle chase and martial arts fight to the finish at the end. Safe to say if you go into the movie expecting to see things blown up, you will get more than your money's worth. But M:I3 also returns more to the twisty, breathlessly suspenseful of Brian De Palma's original, with a fair amount of plot twists ahoy. They may not ever be totally unexpected, but safe to say even moviegoers more experienced with this sort of "twist a minute" genre may find a couple of genuine surprises in store.
There is definitely a sufficient plot to justify all of the very satisfying action sequences, and the filmmakers are blessed with a substantially better script this time round, providing us with actual character development and finally a bit of genuine motivation for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, who even seems less like a paper thin carbon copy of James Bond this time around, though the similarities are still inescapable, and rest assured that no matter how much the quality of the M:I films increases, Hunt will still never reach 007 status. There is also the plus of the focus of the film being less the Tom Cruise action hour, and giving more space for a wonderful supporting cast, reviving the team feel of the beginning of the first movie... more the intent of the IMF organization rather than solo missions all the time. A high point is Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames) and Hunt having a rapid-fire discussion about marriage and relationships during a furious raid of the vatican, with occasional comic input from fellow team member Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
Cruise does what he does best again here, but at this point despite how all other aspects of the franchise have increased, Cruise himself doesn't really seem to be quite as at ease as in past films, and we start to lose interest in his character, despite the very appreciated character development. It's more in the wonderful supporting cast that the true performance joy emerges. M:I3 seems to have served the function of, if nothing else, showcasing a new generation of very talented and capable, and, to this point, mostly unrecognizable actors and actresses, who, if there is any justice, should make it big in the industry any day now. Keep your eye on Jonathan Rhys Meyers, (who also impressed in this year's Match Point) Keri Russel, and personal favorite, Michelle Monaghan, as Cruise's fiancée, who also gave a hilarious turn in this year's excellent, but very overlooked film "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", who all gave wonderful and very enjoyable performances.
Billy Crudup and Lawrence Fishburne also give great performances as Hunt's superiors, and British actor Simon Pegg just about walks away with the movie, showing his effortless comedic talents as Hunt's tech savvy associate. It is of course great to see Ving Rhames return once again as Hunt's close friend and co-agent Luther Stickel. And then there's Philip Seymour Hoffman, who, as would be anticipated, effortless steals the film away without question from all his fellow actors. Hoffman shows how very talented an actor he is by following up his Oscar winning turn in Capote as a truly chilling and evil to the bone villain. Here is an antagonistic figure who we genuinely love to hate, and Hoffman works his far too short screen time to full effect - one of the most powerful screen villains in recent history.
All in all, M:I3 should be considered worth watching: very frequent, and incredibly satisfying action setpieces masked by an actually decent storyline, and some genuine quality acting. It may not be anything too memorable, there is definitely a sense of fishing for the original (Hunt attacks yet another corporation building from above and such...) and you're not likely to take anything too profound out of it , but for a highly enjoyable night out at the movies, you need look no further.
-8/10