Its the little things, I think, that make MI3 a worthy see. The little things, such as a nice slow motion camera shot here, a small little joke there, and a little style in the story.
MI3 is basically a continuation of a Mission Impossible saga, that originated from a television show. The first movie made was in 1996. It was called Mission Impossible and was directed by Brian De Palma, and the star of the show was Tom Cruise, playing the now famous supa' spy.. Ethan Hunt. With the help of the always great David Koepp, that movie was a delightful thriller/action movie that made good use of the fresh “man under the mask” idea. That movie also included, the now famous and then great, falling from the top on a rope scene.
Then at the beginning of the millennium (2000) the sequel was produced. Mission: Impossible II was directed by John Woo and featured Tom Cruise as its leading man. This movie however, was not much like the t.v. show or like the first MI. It was more like a bootleg version of a bond film. Going for style and lacking all substance, it was as average as action movies get.
Now about six years later, we have the third part in this story. MI3 is directed by J.J. Abrams famous for contributing in such television shows such as “Alias” and “Lost”. He also helped pen a movie I fairly enjoyed called “Joyride”.
In Mission Impossible 3, we find supa'spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as a retired IMF field leader. He is far from active duty and enjoying it. He is now training new IMF agents to become supa' spies like he once was. In a change of events, he is suddenly ripped away from the family life that he had just began to enjoy, to be confronted with a international weapons dealer that has a reputation for being slick and a very bad man.
This man is the ever evil Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). With a new mission at hand, Hunt is now forced to look to his old friend Luther Strickell(Ving Rhames)who also came out in the previous movies, and also seeking the aid of new friends. Friends like transportation expert Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers),and background operative Zhen (Maggie Q). All of these helping in a mission that starts off plausible but ends up seeming impossible.
As an action movie, MI3 is a solid one. It contains massive amounts of explosions and gun fire. The thing that makes all of this cool, is the direction of it. The small things made it interesting, such as slow or fast motion sequences that were shot in untypical ways. (Or at least ways that are not often applied) Also, the seldom use (compared to the second movie) of the face mask was a pleasant thing. It was nice the first or second time but after the umpteenth time, the fact that someone was wearing a mask was becoming tiresome.
Like in the previous two movies, there was a love story going on. Here, it is the same, but the nice thing was that it served the story well, instead of turning it into a gushy mushy story. It helped turn a supa' spy.. into a more down to earth individual. It helped you relate to the guy and actually feel something for him and the love story.
That is actually one of the top points of the movie, the fact that it humanises, Ethan Hunt a man who for the most most part, has been seen only as this unstoppable super agent. Here in MI3 he seemed like an actual person, with actual feelings. Which makes it easier for us to actually feel something in the times of action and stress. In this movie we find him in a plausible and tender relationship, where we want the union to succeed and feel the pain when the relationship is put at risk.
Tom Cruise did his usual all smiles and charming act as Ethan Hunt. He was pleasant to watch, regardless of all the bazaar media attention that he has been receiving of late. You know.. that Oprah thing, as well as the south part episode. Scrutinize the movies and acting jobs I say, not the peoples life. And here judging the job, he did a fine job at seeming like a regular ol' joe in certain instances and like a combat killer in others.
What I very much enjoyed, was watching the evil doer played by Mr. Hoffman. Coming off him splendid role as Capote, he played Owen Davian quite devilishly. My only gripe with his role was not seeing more of him. His pan faced delivery of the evil davian was menacing and fierce. What I always enjoy about him, is the stunning impression he leaves on me.. regardless of being in a few scenes or in many.
The smaller pieces were also played well in this movie. I especially enjoyed seeing glimpses of such actors like Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q; Mr Meyers (last seen in “Match Point” which I loved with the ever sultry Scarlett Johansson) was on target in the few parts he was player in. Particularly, in a funny scene were he and Cruise are screaming furiously in Italian. Maggie Q, was pleasant riding stylishly in an expensive sports vehicle, and not to mention stylishly crucial in one of the missions.
Keri Russell who played Lindsey Ferrisa a super agent, also did a good job in this role. (Even if it was rather brief.) It was something different to see her as a gun shooter, rather than a homely role like in “Felicity” and an anorexia plagued girl in “The Upside of Anger”. Still, it was a pleasant surprise because she did a nice job.
MI3 was a solid action movie, that I enjoyed watching. It held clever action sequences with delightful camera shots. The story was interesting and humanism of its characters. And the plot twist were not very far fetched. It was much better than the second MI movie and might be as good as the first.
ZeN