Breathtaking, non-stop action... sets a new benchmark for the genre

Rating: 10/10 (7 September 2006)

M:I 2 was, frankly, crap, so I had difficulty finding friends who were willing to pay the price of a ticket to see this one with me. But I suspected that, after the disappointment that was the first sequel, they wouldn't have bothered making another one unless they had a really good idea for it. Boy was I right!
I am a seasoned cinemagoer, and I love action films, so I've seen my share of them and then some. You'd think I would be ready to handle more or less anything a screen could throw at me...
As I came out of the cinema from seeing this, with my mouth just gawping with awe, a friend in the group asked me for the phone number of another friend who wasn't there. And as I fumbled with the keys of my cellphone trying to find it for her, I realized why it was being so difficult: My hands were trembling. In fact, my whole body was feeling weak and shaky from all the pent-up tension. No other movie, ever, has done that to me.
There is an old adage in movies that says that, to make a good one, you start with an earthquake and go upwards from there. Well, it may be a joke, but M:I 3 achieves almost exactly that. It is a smorgasbord of non-stop action, a roaring juggernaut which just never gives you a break to get your breath back. Every time you think it has reached a point where things will have to slow down, something happens and you're gripping the arms of your chair once again. Such is the abundance and quality of the action scenes, that at one crucial point of the adventure, the movie is so daring as to momentarily stop following Hunt's quest altogether (!), probably because what is happening at that time would look tame in comparison with with what comes before and after... And it's not just the action per se, you understand. All those scenes would mean nothing to the viewer if they weren't backed up by a gripping and twisty story, which this time includes such a personal element to it that it is almost impossible not to openly cheer for Ethan Hunt when he gets something sorted, or squirm in anguish when he seems to reach a dead end.
I have always considered Die Hard to be the best action film ever made, but now I see this as the only contender strong enough to instill some doubts in that conviction. That's how good it is.