Shanghaied off to China

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2006)

It's been a decade since the first Mission: Impossible film, so by now any resemblance to the TV series, theme music and opening sequence aside, is purely coincidental. Mr Cruise and his team have managed to create, successfully, a new world with very little resemblance to the original idea from Bruce Geller.
In fact, the story is told in reverse: it opens with an event that does not take place till much later in the film, before cutting to the story's true beginning after the match-lighting credits.
This time out, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is at his engagement party when he receives a telephone call from his immediate superior at the Impossible Mission Force, Musgrave. He's urged to get out of training agents and into the field for a rescue mission, an event that leads Hunt and his team (Ving Rhames returns as Luther Stickell, while Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers join the cast) into the usual double-crosses and red herrings.
The rescue scene near the opening is indicative of the new Mission: Impossibles: Hunt et al have to use weaponry and gadgetry to rescue an agent, Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell), rather than trickery and intelligence. From that point on, this is an action spectacular that will wow mainstream audiences.
Only thing is, even die-hard Mission: Impossible TV fans like myself come in expecting the sort of action set down by the first Brian de Palma film now. In fact, M:I III resembles the first actioner more than the John Woo-directed second outing, with a question mark eventually over whom within the IMF agency is a mole.
J. J. Abrams' touch as a co-writer and director is felt. Any fans of Alias will not be disappointed: the movie comes off with more of that flavour, but with far more explosions and cameras encircling walking actors than one might expect. Michael Giacchino's music works well with the action for the most part and the re-arrangement of the Lalo Schifrin themes sound spectacular with a full orchestra. The musical surprise is an updated version of 'It's Impossible' over the end credits.
The mask-making process is shown more clearly this time aroundthe use of electronic gadgetry once againas is the learning of an enemy's voice (no more Rollin Hand here; this is high-tech voodoo, too).
The script holds up reasonably well; certainly it is infinitely superior to the previous outing. For an action spectacular, there is sufficient plot, though it is used to hold action sequences together. The mole's motive is not that clearly explained, while the main villain, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), also disappoints as a baddie who prefers using guns and fists to brains.
Mission: Impossible III has taken over from the James Bonds in certain respects. The spy actioner theme is the most obvious. Secondly, the films go to more exotic locations, with Shanghai being the setting in the second half. The film-makers have used the Chinese city to good effect, showing it as a futuristic metropolis hanging on to some traditiona 1,000-year-old fishing village and some of Shanghai's back streets are also shown. Some Ford Motor Company (Land Rover, Lincoln) and DHL product placement is evidentanother cue taken from the Bonds.
If audiences seek a "bigger" Mission: Impossible, then Cruise and co. have delivered. It's quite a ride, enough to set it apart from other Hollywood action flicks, but not quite enough to make it a supremely satisfying movie. Still, it is worth parting with your money to get the action on the big screen, particularly those Shanghai sequences.