Mission: Impossible III (2006)
"I'll die unless you kill me!"
It's all too easy to rip on Tom Cruise these days and truth be told, I don't think he deserves it. Sure, that whole Scientology thing is a bit weird, but he's genuinely a good actor. So, I vow not to mention his religion, his height or anything else demeaning to him for the rest of this review.
"You hung me out of a plane. You can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat people they don't have to treat well."
The story follows agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) who has settled down and got engaged in the process to Julia (Michelle Monaghan). He is called back into action when it unfolds that his protégé Lindsey (Keri Russell) has been kidnapped and is being held by weapons dealer and all-round twatbag Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Yep- it's the old "I'm getting too old for this shit" story that only occurs with film sequelage (Yes, I made up that word).
There is a lot to like about "Mission: Impossible III". As I've said before- a film is nothing without a good villain. Well, Owen Davian is a good villain. He's cold, intelligent and calculating- something oft missing from boomfests. I think most of this is down to the combination of J.J."I'm responsible for Lost" Abrams' directing and Philip Seymour Hoffman's skill. Ironically, because Davian is a such a strong character, it highlights the blandness of the character of Ethan Hunt. He's just one of those boring, all-American, supposed badasses travelling worldwide, fucking stuff up just so Americans are free to eat their own body weight on a daily basis.
The action sequences are also of note as many of them are impressive. The bridge sequence, for example, is extremely well done. It's a shame then that the main letdown of the film is the fairly average cast (with the exception of Simon Pegg) and the story isn't anything new. I knew after the first ten minutes that some kind of double-cross/twist was inevitable as the fucking tide. The one thing I do like about the story is the MacGuffin (i.e. the thing that drives the plot) is never actually explained. We get a name (the Rabbit's Foot), some brief glances of it and a speculative guess by Simon Pegg's character, but that's about it. It's a smart move as the convention these days is to explain everything so the audience don't have to strain their apparently feeble minds guessing.
There is a lot to like about "Mission: Impossible III". As I've said before- a film is nothing without a good villain. Well, Owen Davian is a good villain. He's cold, intelligent and calculating- something oft missing from boomfests. I think most of this is down to the combination of J.J."I'm responsible for Lost" Abrams' directing and Philip Seymour Hoffman's skill. Ironically, because Davian is a such a strong character, it highlights the blandness of the character of Ethan Hunt. He's just one of those boring, all-American, supposed badasses travelling worldwide, fucking stuff up just so Americans are free to eat their own body weight on a daily basis.
The action sequences are also of note as many of them are impressive. The bridge sequence, for example, is extremely well done. It's a shame then that the main letdown of the film is the fairly average cast (with the exception of Simon Pegg) and the story isn't anything new. I knew after the first ten minutes that some kind of double-cross/twist was inevitable as the fucking tide. The one thing I do like about the story is the MacGuffin (i.e. the thing that drives the plot) is never actually explained. We get a name (the Rabbit's Foot), some brief glances of it and a speculative guess by Simon Pegg's character, but that's about it. It's a smart move as the convention these days is to explain everything so the audience don't have to strain their apparently feeble minds guessing.
"Mission: Impossible III" is alright. That's it. It's definitely the best of the "Mission: Impossible" series, what with the first one being way too complicated for its own good and the second one directed by John Woo, who was seemingly on crack at the time. Thing is, in this post-Bourne and Craig Bond world, I want more from my spy thrillers these days. Let's just hope that the L.Ron worshipping midget can pull a slicker film out of the bag for the inevitable fourth installment.
...What?
...Oh, goddamn it!
...What?
...Oh, goddamn it!
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