Engaged, deeply in love, out of active duty, Imposible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on the verge of quitting espionage for good until one of his trainees (Keri Russell) is caught by sadistic arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Together with old friend Luther (Ving Rhames) and new agents Zhen (Maggie Q) and Declan (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) he forges a rescue attempt. But soon Hunt and Davian's lives will become more intertwined when Davian kidnaps Hunt's bride-to-be, Julia (Michelle Monaghan)...
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III is by the far the best of the series, and it is all down to one man, 'Alias' creator J.J. Abrams. From the exuberance of 'Alias', it was obvious the film was going to be great fun, but he surprisingly manages to cut to the core of the characters and mount incredibly vivid action scenes. The scene on the bridge where Cruise and his team are ambushed, whilst reminiscent of TRUE LIES (1994) and in the spirit of an awesome scene in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (also 1994), shows great instincts for action directing and throws you right into the thick of the chaos, not just viscerally, but emotionally. The action scenes are not as frequent or original as the first two films but they are arguably more memorable. I am sure John Woo and James Cameron would be impressed.
Abrams also opens the doors to I.M.F. and lets us take a peek inside, demystifying the franchise and making it more realistic. He also lets Cruise create a real, fully rounded character as Hunt this time. The real revelation of the film is Abrams's concern for characterisation and real emotion. Hoffman is brilliantly controlled as the master villain who constantly outwits his enemies because he is simply more intelligent (it's his sex drive that gets him into trouble). Abrams likes to put his characters through the mill, and thus the audience too, and he is also skilled at creating ticking-clock tension a la Hitchcock (who it seems would be one of his heroes). The rest of the cast is fun, particularly Laurence Fishburne's hard as nails I.M.F. chief (sporting some wonderfully sardonic dialogue) and Simon Pegg's nerdish computer whiz (a part originally owned by Ricky Gervais from 'The Office' and very similar to Kevin Weisman's Marshall Flinkman character in 'Alias'). Michelle Monaghan (KISS KISS, BANG BANG, 2005) and Keri Russell (Abrams's first TV show 'Felicity') bring some spunk and beauty to their roles, and both would make credible action heroines after this movie! Maggie Q (the Hong Kong action flick NAKED WEAPON, 2002) is an incredibly beautiful face to watch too. (Billy Crudup from ALMOST FAMOUS, 2000, also appears as Cruise's supervisor.)
Fans of 'Alias' will no doubt notice the similarities to the show - in fact, it references the show as much as it does the previous MISSION pictures and TV series (1966-73). There is the cliffhanger opening torture scene taken from the middle of the story (see the opening 'Alias' episode), glamorous locations (Berlin, Shanghai, Vatican City...but here they actually get to visit them for real!), cute but gutsy (and frequently tortured women (Monaghan, Russell) and a surly boss (Fishburne). Not forgetting some daft title cards ('Berlin, Germany'...really? I had it confused with the Berlin in Zimbabwe...).
All in all, a great action film (and more importantly, MISSION film) which fuses the best elements of its predecessors, with the fun tone of 'Alias' and a little more humanity. Actually one of the better sequels ever made, and a rare case of a franchise hitting its stride about the time it should be be getting tired. Abrams sums up the achievement of his film with a quote describing his intentions for the film: 'My dream was to take the spy movie genre, and while it would have mindblowing action sequences, ensure it had intimacy and character-based story.' (Total Film magazine, May 2006). Well, Mr Abrams, you did it.
Forget the bad press that seems to have surrounded the film - the talk of the film flopping (it has grossed nearly $340m already!!) because Cruise's 'erratic' behaviour is alienating many people. Mean-spirited and fickle people don't deserve to be heard. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III is a fantastic film.
Trivia -The film had a rocky road to fruition. Both David Fincher (whose script concerned black market body parts tbeong traded in Africa) and Joe Carnahan were close to starting the film but eventually walked. Abrams jettisoned the Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, 1994) script and co-authored a new script with his 'Alias' writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman . Carnahan's version was nearly filmed in 2004 with Scarlett Johannson (in Keri Russell's role), Kenneth Branagh and Carrie-Anne Moss (replacing Thandie Newton, who declined to return) but Cruise made WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) with Spielberg instead. Cruise and Hoffman previously co-starred in MAGNOLIA (1999). Greg Grunberg (Eric Weiss in 'Alias') appears in the party scene at the beginning of the picture.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III wil lbe available on DVD in November.
Edited by manfromjapan, 19 October 2006 - 11:20 AM.
