Review of Mission: Impossible III (2006) by Pablo V — 28 Dec 2011

The Impossible gets lucky.

Finally, the third film Mission Impossible III, but with J.J. Abrams's as it's new director, will I choose to accept it?

Mission Impossible III is a film that takes no prisoners, we are shown this when what we believe will be an important character is killed off very quickly, we are also confronted with a very difficult opening in which Ethan's fiancé is about to be shot. Right from the start we can see that this version of Mission Impossible brought to us via J.J. Abrams is a bold and impressive interpretation.

That mood and tension that is created from it's opening is kept high throughout the entire movie. Rarely did I look away from the screen or even think about how long I had been watching for. Mission Impossible 3 is a film that demands your attention, and for good reasons.

I can't walk around it any more, MI3 is impressive, it's a movie that isn't afraid to write out major characters, drop in the odd bombshell or give lavish set pieces (my favourite being the Vatican), it's a movie that aims high and achieves it.

This could be because J.J. Abrams knows that it's better for us to be able to relate to characters than for them to be superman. In MI3, Abrams's makes Ethan Hunt a credible person, he is just about to get married and is almost retired, however his talents as a spy are still fully functional. Tiny little moments tells us this, and for my money this is what makes the film strong, J.J. Abrams makes me believe that Ethan Hunt could be an ordinary person if he wanted to be.

I also like how the film never lays all it's cards on the table, there are still some questions left open when the credits roll. This again plays to the films assets, however Abrams's makes sure we understand the most important of plot points before moving on.

Mission Impossible doesn't respect it's , which is also one of it's drawbacks, some of it's cast are left in the ether of the movie, for example we never find out what ultimately happens to Eddie Marsan.

Yes you did read that right, my favourite old Eddie himself is in the feature, along with Ving Rhames (who has been in all 3 now), Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Simon Pegg, and Laurence Fishburne, all of whom are great in the movie. But I want to speak specifically about two cast members; Tom Cruise is this time a more mature and refined version of Ethan and all the better for it,and opposite him is the prefect villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman is without doubt one of the best actors for a villain I have ever seen, he is always refined, controlled and move importantly nasty. Oh and Billy Crudup is great as Ethan's friend at the embassy, but truly Hoffman steals the film completely.

I would make some kind of comment about how Mission Impossible is a stupid title as nothing in the film feels like it is impossible or that Ethan won't achieve it, but really that's one of the things I like about it, this version of Impossible is so much more realistic and derivable than Woo's preposterous imagining.

However, at the same time J.J. Abrams's never makes the movie seem dull or boring, he always keeps the tension tight and the framework clean. I'll admit that when Ethan's soon to be wife starts getting involved it begins to be a stretch, it just didn't feel justified.

J.J. Abrams brings the franchise back to it's routes blending together the action of the second movie with the tension and intelligence of the first one. The best so far.