Mission: Impossible III

Not bad at all. After the John Woo craptastic crapfest that was MI2, Lost creator JJ Abrams takes over and makes a flick that is at least as good as the first one, possibly better in some respects. Some real surprises early in the flick start things off fast, and it keeps up the pace pretty well from there on. Sure, it's mostly same-old same-old, but it was fun and action-packed. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was fine as a villain, but was really not even in the movie that much. Tom Cruise was just Tom Cruise as usual, but for two hours I was able to forget about all his offscreen stupidity. You know what this really felt like? 24: The Movie. ...which they are apparently going to make. It should end up being much like MI3, and I think that'd be just fine.

J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost, takes on the third instalment of the action franchise, which sees human yo-yo Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in rare human mode as he plans on making an early retirement to be with his nurse wife (Michelle Monaghan), only to be go on another impossible mission as he plans catching sadistic arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). To aid him are Ving Rhames, Jonathon Rhys-Meyers and Maggie Q, and, this being a third, there are gadgets, explosions, sets and plot twists like now other.

You've got to hand it to Abrams – he certainly knows how to keep an audience on their toes. Drawing on a few of his popular plot devices from Lost (flashbacks, a crescendo to the turning point), he sets us up neatly into his little world, where Ethan Hunt is now a man trying to live a normal life. Whilst that scenario may be a hard to buy, this is redeemed by the many action scenes in the film which are each exhilarating. To go into detail would be spoiling it, but let's just say there is an extremely breathtaking sequence involving a fulcrum, an amusing one involving Tom Cruise disguising himself as someone, and lastly, but by no means least a helicopter chase which is utterly awe-inspiring and barely lets the audience pause for breath. All this, and you get a Michael Giacchino score that perfectly blends action, anxiety, fear and anger.

The cast in themselves are a treat. Tom Cruise, though not given the most trying of tasks in playing an action hero, does a good job with his usual intensity. In the action scenes, his facial expressions are concentrated and focused and utterly convincing. However, Cruise fails in having any genuine chemistry with Michelle Monaghan, for and the romance comes across as rather bland. This is not aided with the poor writing in these scenes. Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Maggie Q merely look cool as his helpers, and Laurence Fisburne and Billy Crudup successfully bring that edge of moral ambiguity to their characters. And Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellently malicious as the elusive and extremely dangerous Davian, shining in his lizard-eyed role and bringing some genuine terror to the villain. His scenes aside Tom Cruise are superb, as they practically tremble in tension and quiet hatred on both characters parts.

You will go to see Mission Impossible III expecting some grand-scale set pieces, and you will not be disappointed here. Each one of the four is masterfully executed, with a breezy slickness that is both cool and exciting. We're talking non-stop action, occasionally interspersed with those corny Hollywood love formulae, cruising as "emotion." Its big, its bombastic, and it could be the Summer blockbuster of the year.

Easily not the best mission, but thanks to JJ Abrams direction and an absolute menacing performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman this movie is more than deserving of repeat viewings.

One of the best of the franchise, mainly thanks to a truly chilling performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's a rare example of a film where you really feel that the stakes are high and that the bad guy is truly threatening.

Part 3 is still fairly small in scale compared to what came later, not to say that there aren't some spectacular stunts - my favourite sequence was the bridge scene in Florida, as well as the various face-swapping scenes.

6.9 is definitely too low a rating for what is a very decent action film. I like most of what JJ Abrams has done as a director and it is certainly an enormous step up for the franchise from part 2.

Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt and this time he's battling a sadistic arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman). This is without question the best in the series and this is coming from someone who enjoyed the previous two films. I thought the first film was way too confusing for its own good while the second one was way too much action and not enough brains. This third film hits on all the right notes and delivers some terrific action scenes mixed with a pretty smart script that doesn't go over the top on brains. The real key to the film is the terrific performance by Hoffman. He's been known for years as a great character actor but when I heard he was playing the villain I honestly didn't think he could pull it off but he comes off quite menacing in the role. He doesn't have any funny lines, which is a great thing because it makes him all the more threatening. Then there's Cruise who delivers another all-star performance. I think, in real life, Cruise is a jackass but he still manages to be the greatest movie star out there. The supporting cast including Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne all do fine work as well. The action scenes are also some of the best I've seen including the wonderful attack on the bridge.