Light the fuse....

Rating: 5/10 (27 May 2006)

Mission Impossible III Super spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) once again accepts a mission in the third offering of the Mission Impossible franchise. This time he is up against international terrorist/psychopath Owen Davies (Philip Seymour-Hofmann) who decides the only way to get Hunt out of his weapons dealing business is to target Hunt's wife (Michelle Monaghan). With the help of his team (Ving Rhames, Maggie Q, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Hunt sets out on a treacherous game of brain bombs, fast orange cars and predicaments that seem too impossible to get out of.
The making of this second sequel certainly lived up to its title brought about by the many obstacles and distractions associated with filming. Director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Panic Room), then Joe Carnahan (Narc) decided to pull out and pursue other more worthwhile interest. The job eventually went to first time movie director J.J Abrams who obviously impressed Cruise enough with his work on Alias and Lost. Rumour also has it that Scarlett Johanssen (set to play Cruise's love interest) pulled out after Cruise tried to convert her to Scientology and the producers are facing a law suit from a stuntman who got burned while shooting. Then there were the obvious delays as Cruise had to take time off to jump up and down on Oprah's yellow couch and learn how to operate an ultrasound machine to make sure there is a baby inside Katie Holmes! But was it worth the wait? Given the previous success of the franchise, MI:3 will definitely thrill and entertain audiences again. Philip Seymour Hoffman (fresh from his Oscar winning role as Capote) was very effective and scary as the creepy and devious madman. His performance was a refreshing break from the often expected campy villain with the strange European accent. Credit also goes to Cruise for performing his own stunts and for being able to pull off playing romantic lead and action star in the same movie (but isn't it just a reflection of his Jekyll and Hyde personality?). Certainly MI:3 lives up to its predecessors in terms of delivering the goods with spectacular stunts filmed on location from around the world, expensive cars exploding and nifty gadgets that would make you think that Hunt and Bond shopped from the same spy catalog