Mission: Almost Possible

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2006)

Director Brian De Palma turns the debut of Mission: Impossible series a classic. Hong Kong director John Woo takes M:I 2 to a higher ground, where people will remember Tom Cruise acting in a very Jong Woo way, with a touch of Woo's magic seen during the early days where Woo works with Chow Yun Fatt in his Hong Kong production.
Now, Alias and Lost director JJ Abrams proves that he can take M:I 3 to a higher ground. With M:I 3 being his movie directorial debut, he did it, but it seems that Cruise has lost his charm compared to the previous 2 M:I franchise.
When Cruise makes the plot of M:I 3 secretive, it makes the audience worth the 6 years wait for the most explosive, most thrilling and most exciting than the previous 2 M:I franchise. This time round, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) takes on a mission to retrieve Rabbit's Foot, a bio-toxin chemical from Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a fire-arm dealer, from selling the chemical to the terrorist. At the same time, he has to hide his identity from Julia (Michelle Monaghan), his wife. The plot is as simple as that.
But as expected, the presentation is not that simple. Hunt has his team mates: Luther (Ving Rhames), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (HK's Maggie Q) to help him in stopping Davian from selling the chemical by kidnapping him. As for how it goes, see it for yourself.
Abrams proves that he is no rookie when it comes to directing a movie, especially he was given the heavy task of upholding the reputation of M:I franchise. With the top grade scorecard from Alias and Lost, Abrams brings what is needed to bring excitement and thrill to the audience. He injects tonnes of explosive actions, cross fire, betrayal and stunts into the movie. Expect the exchange of fires between helicopters and shootings on the bridge in Rome, US and Shanghai. While the previous 2 M:I features Europe and US as part of the setting, Abrams and Cruise decided to add in a touch of Asia: Shanghai. This explains why you get to see Cruise throwing himself down from Bank of China in Shanghai in his mission.
While Abrams might have do a good job in directing, Cruise has show signs of fatigue in M:I 3. You will still get hot actions from Cruise, thought he might have signs of fatigue written on his body. To reward the audience for the 6 years wait of the new M:I franchise, Cruise takes the risk to perform the stunts himself.
Acdamy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman takes the role of Davian, the villain in M:I 3, after his memorable and remarkable role of Truman Capote in Capote. A great difference from his gay, fey and voice with some childishness, Hoffman turns into a fierce, ruthless and evil Davian, who vows to make sure that anyone who is nasty to him will die the same way on how he was treated. Hoffman did it, and he will now be remembered as evil Davian apart from the fey Capote.
Maggie Q adds a touch of Asia to M:I 3, where she plays Zhen, a teammate in the IMF (Impossible Mission Force). She proves to be a hot babe with capabilities, but not a femme fatale. But given her young experience in the film industry, she proves that she can do it. Her name appears on the next Asian in a mission squad, after Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin in James Bond's Tomorrow Never Dies and Adrian Pang, a Singapore actor who was seen in Tony Scott's Spy Game, playing a doctor with Brad Pitt in a rescue mission.
Laurence Fishburne appears more on a special appearance basis rather than a supporting actor, with him playing John Brassel Theodore, one of Ehtna's superior. Somehow, if he was given more appearance in the film, it would be useful to explain some of the unanswered questions in the film.
Overall, some fared well while some seems to have failed the audience in the new series of M:I. This leads me to the possible creation of the next M:I franchise. If Cruise can prove that the box office and the review speaks for itself, then he is on his way to create the next M:I franchise.