Review of Mission: Impossible III (2006) by Gareth L — 05 Apr 2015

Mission Impossible is a franchise that I'm surprised even got this far, the first entry was good some would say even great but the sequel was just, to but it nicely a disappointment. Then we got MI:III which is a solid but overall just a average movie. J.J. Abrams and Co. Bring us a fairly generic macguffin centric plot that ultimately leads nowhere. There's some solid action scenes but nothing we haven't seen before and more importantly nothing spectacular, and that's a problem for big budget action movie that's part of a big franchise to not deliver in the action department is unacceptable. Not the action is bad it's just underwhelming it lacks impact or the plain old fun you would come to get from its sequel Ghost Protocol.

This was Abrams first movie as a director and it's noticable if you're familiar with his style. We jump straight into the climax for just a short moment to build tension quickly but the scene was so out of context and so sudden that the technique comes off as sloppy. Then we continue on to the next scene, a party is going we get some light character development and that's a trick we see in another Abrams movie(Cloverfield) it's a OK scene but it's just feels amateur for a big movie. And yes there is lens flair as well, but the point I'm going at is that all the traits that would come to make Abrams a really good director aren't here yet and the movie feels like just about anyone could have directed it. Which is a disappointment, J.J. Abrams is one the few directors that can capture a true sense of wonder but it's just not here.

The cast is also wasted here, there's a solid cast but they are wasted in one dimensional writing. Ving Rhames is there to provide some witty back and forth between him and Tom Cruse, Meyers is there to be and look smart and Maggie Q is there to wear that dress and provide eye candy for the trailer . Monaghan is practically a damsel in distress in waiting the entire movie. Hoffman and Cruse are the two stand outs as expected, but don't expect anything amazing here.

Now it's not all bad the movie has its pros. The pacing is great the movie gets to point and you're never to far from the next action scene. The look of the movie is also great while it's nothing we haven't seen before, the cinematography and lighting work really well here similar to the Star Trek movies that Abrams ended up directing after this. And of course Tom Cruse and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are good throughout.

Overall it's a decent movie with solid action that will keep you entertained but you'll probably forget about it shortly after it's over. The movie is worth a watch on cable or maybe even a bargain bin purchase.

5/10.