Fuses the good things from the first two and leaves out the bad....mostly.

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2006)

Just finished watching this movie and I feel bittersweet about it.
I (unlike many people) actually enjoyed the first Mission. I liked the complicated plot twists, the subtle but stylish aura and the teamwork involved in executing the assignment. I (like most people) hated the second Mission because they threw out all of what made the first one good and left me with over-the-top, gratuitous action. So I entered the third Mission, hoping for something better than the second but did not have my hopes up.
I must tell you, I was very satisfied while I watched this. The filmmakers did the right thing by taking what was good from the two previous Missions, and fused them together to established a nice, healthy balance in this third installment. There was the plot twists and turns and the double-crossings as you might expect, but not done in an overly complicated matter. It was paced nicely such that most people can catch on and follow. It once again brought back the team element of the first and the stylish execution of the missions that we were accustomed to. And it complimented this with a healthy dose of action that was typical of movies of this nature but without getting too ridiculous. Add in a nice mix of the exotic settings of Europe and Asia, scattered injections of humor, slick directing and quality acting, and you have a pleasantly entertaining movie that would satisfy both the mindless and the intellectual. These good elements co-existed in the movie. It was doing very well...
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
...then they shredded that balance in the final act. The movie completely goes off track with a final scene that was straight out of left field and totally out of place for the context of this movie. I shall vent my frustration of what exactly it is that I was disappointed with in the forums. But what was holding together as a solid entertaining action film was somewhat ruined by this inclusion.
*** END OF SPOILER ***
But when all said and done, the movie gets a 7 out of 10 from me as most of the movie was satisfying. It is a weak 7 due to what I mention in my "SPOILER". But I feel overall that they've steered the franchise in the right direction. Hopefully, they will improve on what they did in this one for the next Mission.