Mission: Impossible III

***

Reviewed by: John Gallagher

Mission Impossible III
"In between all the action - the scene on the bridge is awesome - we get to see the serious side of Ethan and, you know, I would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't." | Photo: © 2006 Paramount Pictures

Ok, so we've all seen the trailer. We've seen the explosions, the gun fight on the bridge, more explosions and the general chaos and mayhem that you would assume comes with the Mission: Impossible movies. Can someone please tell me then why Tom Cruise cries every 10 minutes?

Let me first explain the plot. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has decided that he wants more from life than driving fast cars, having any woman he wants and killing bad guys that get in his way. So he decides to get himself a house and a girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan) and live the life of a normal person. I.M.F on the other hand won't let him enjoy this new life, so they send him on a few dangerous missions. Enter nasty person Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who plans on obtaining the baddest of all bad weapons: the rabbit's foot! It's up to Ethan and his team, Luther (Ving Rhames), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q), to stop Davian.

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First time movie director J J Abrams (Lost, Alias) takes over the reins of the Mission: Impossible series and you would think that he would want to make a big impression, no? I'm not saying that this is a bad movie. Far from it; I'm just not saying that it's great. In between all the action - the scene on the bridge is awesome - we get to see the serious side of Ethan and, you know, I would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't.

Other than Cruise blubbing, the movie itself is enjoyable. Seymour Hoffman is entertaining as the bad guy. Rhames is excellent again. Maggie Q is stunning, especially in the Vatican scene. Monaghan is hot, but isn't around enough. Rhys Meyers is not bad and Fishburne is Morpheus - sorry, wrong movie. Simon Pegg debuts as Mission's version of Q from the Bond flicks. Keri Russell plays Ethan's trainee and finally Billy Crudup takes over from Jon Voight and Anthony Hopkins as Ethan's boss.

The sets and locations are terrific and the acting is right on. I do have an issue with the finale. When you see Cruise talking to Fishburne, you need to get your stuff together fast. When they stop talking, leave. Don't look back. This way, you avoid exposing yourself to one of the cheesiest endings of all time in a movie that should be cheese free.

Reviewed on: 05 May 2006
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Mission: Impossible III packshot
The Ethan Hunt franchise gets personal, while chasing a psychopathic arms dealer half way round the globe.
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Read more Mission: Impossible III reviews:

Stephen Carty ***1/2
Anton Bitel ***
Scott Macdonald **

Director: J J Abrams

Writer: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J J Abrams, based on the TV series created by Bruce Geller

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Laurence Fishburne, Bahar Soomekh, Eddie Marsan

Year: 2006

Runtime: 126 minutes

BBFC: 12A - Adult Supervision

Country: US

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