Mission: Impossible III

TV writer, producer, and director J.J. Abrams comes on board to helm the spy action film Mission:Impossible III. And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to forget about Cruise’s public antics and Scientology crap while watching and let it all wash over you. If you do that, you’ll likely have a blast.

Like many action franchises on a return trip, the movie attempts to shake things up character-wise by having the protagonist in a serious relationship. And so IMF superagent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is engaged to be married to Julia (Michelle Monaghan), pretending to work at the Ministry of Transportation while in reality training new agents. He is called into the field, of course, and some viewers may begin to wonder if Julia will last any longer than James Bond’s wife did in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Initially called upon to rescue kidnapped agent Lindsey (Keri Russell), Hunt is drawn into a mission to thwart terrorist technology dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and capture the “Rabbit’s Foot” (a McGuffin, as Hitchcock would call it). The mission turns personal, of course, upping the stakes in the final act with a cleverly constructed and adrenalized finale in Shanghai.

Inventive, stylish, globe-trotting, and stentorian, Mission:Impossible III ultimately delivers the goods. Director Abrams shows his TV background by shooting in close or medium shots, and so the film lacks the visual panache of the first two installments, which were shot by two of modern cinema’s most stylish directors, Brian DePalma and John Woo. However, there are several beautifully-constructed and shot sequences and a refreshing injection of wit.

The break-in set piece in the Vatican is entertaining, tense, and funny. We see Hunt’s team work together on a plan that in the real world would have taken several months to plan, using high-technology that of course works perfectly. (Side note: someone should make a movie with a sequence where the suspense comes from a computer on Windows XP that freezes and has to be rebooted in the nick of time.) Hunt dresses as a priest and we get to see a detonator in the shape of a crucifix and how the mask-making technology works, not to mention the single most spectacular shot in the movie—that of the infinitely long and shapely legs of Maggie Q as she exits a Lamborghini (a shot that will inspire many freeze-frames when the DVD comes out). Another action sequence set on a causeway over the ocean (a la True Lies and Licence to Kill) is exciting and nicely shot and edited as Hunt’s team is attacked by an armed drone plane and helicopter full of bad guys.

For all the impressive digital effects work in the film, the most effective moments tend to be the simplest. Hunt dodging traffic as the camera follows the Rabbit’s Foot rolling around on the road with the agent in hot pursuit and a tracking shot as Hunt runs bionically down a street in Shanghai while holding a phone and listening to directions piped from IMF techie Benji (Simon Pegg) are both classic, uncluttered cinematic constructions.

Though the final shot is, as one friend observed, test audience approved the screenplay is well-constructed with just the right amount of plot and characterization to connect the set pieces. Upon an initial viewing at least, the action seems to flow naturally within the story. The main characters aren’t exactly deep, but they are not mere ciphers either, and are expertly brought to life by a stellar cast. Cruise is perfect as the main character, and even gets to emote. Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, though only in a few scenes, creates a memorable villain. The way he calmly threatens Hunt while the agent appears to have the better of him borders on chilling. Hunt’s team is composed of shallowly-written characters, but the cast does what they can (Ving Rhames, a recurring character, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Asian superstar Maggie Q). The ever-reliable Laurence Fishburne gets to hound Hunt for botching missions, police thriller captain style. And British comedian Simon Pegg shines in his two brief appearances.

Mission:Impossible III is a slick and entertaining blast of popcorn cinema. There isn’t any deep drama here, but you get exactly what you came for. Without giving anything away, though, I wonder if this will be the last film in this series. Which would be a shame as it has delivered three gratifying doses of spy action fantasy.


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Directed by J.J. Abrams

Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. Based on the television series created by Bruce Geller

Starring:
Tom Cruise....Ethan Hunt
Ving Rhames....Luther Strickell
Keri Russell....Lindsey
Philip Seymour Hoffman....Owen Davian
Laurence Fishburne....John Brassel
Jonathan Rhys Meyers....Declan
Billy Crudup....John Musgrave
Simon Pegg....Benji Dunn
Michelle Monaghan....Julia
Maggie Q.... Zhen