MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006)

Hello reader. Crazy movie star Tom Cruise is back for a third entry in the 'Mission Impossible' franchise. After the nightmare that was Mission: Impossible II, who could blame you for not wanting to watch this one. That however, would be a big mistake, as Mission: Impossible III is easily the best one yet. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to ignore the sideshow circus that is Tom Cruise's life, and to go see M:I III and have a damn good time. As usual, if you are killed or captured, this critic will disavow any knowledge of your existence and take your wallet and any DVDs you may have had in your possession. This review will self-destruct in 5 seconds.......
Super-Duper not-so-secret agent Ethan Hunt is in big trouble again. Ethan's called out of retirement to rescue a former student of his from a real evil bad guy named Davian who is up to some shady, possible world-ending business, and Ethan is the only one that can stop him. But things are different for Ethan now. He's in love and soon-to-be married. These evil super-villains always pick the worst possible time to try to destroy the world don't they? Tom Cruise is in top form here, both physically and acting-wise. He somehow avoids the aging process unlike former mega action stars like Schwarzenegger, Willis, and Stallone, Cruise looks as if he's getting younger somehow. His acting also keeps getting better and better. This is an all out, guns blazing performance from Cruise. It's another big star, high charisma role, the kind of stuff he's been doing his whole career really, but his skills are just on another level here. Mind you, this is coming from a person who, as a child, would become enraged whenever girls would talk about how great Tom Cruise was in Cocktail or Top Gun. I would think to myself "why do these stupid girls ignore me and just talk about how great Tom Cruise is all the time?" Now I understand. I still don't like it, but I understand. Cruise is obviously the biggest star in the world (and I'm not) , and the expectations placed on his films are beyond massive, and right now he's on a real hot streak and making some of the best choices of his career. From Vanilla Sky to The Last Samurai, he's just picking some really good roles and making some very good films. That's not to say that he doesn't get some big help in M:I III from some pals.

The whole supporting cast is excellent, especially Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the evil Owen Davian, a man who is just hell bent on being bad. The writing for this Davian character is fine but it's not anything special. Many other actors who could have taken this role may have been more than suitable, but they also would have been typical. Hoffman makes this villain a truly memorable one. Not on the level of Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard or Gary Oldman as Stansfield in Leon, but close. Superhot Michelle Monaghan nicely plays Cruise's love interest Julia Meade. Ving Rhames, is back in Hunt's task force as Luther Stickell and is his usual bad-ass self. Jonathan Rhys Myers, fresh from a fantastic performance in Match Point is also on the team as Declan Gormley and does a solid job in the small role. The gorgeous Maggie Q or Maggie Denise Quigley is on the team as Zhen Lei, a supreme master of being beautiful. So beautiful. So so so...And there's also Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup throwing their formidable talents into the mix.
So you have the high flying star and you have the stellar supporting cast, so what's missing? TV's Lost and Alias producer J.J. Abrams of course. He gels it all together with clarity and perfection. His slick direction is a breath of fresh air for the 'Mission Impossible' franchise. It almost completely washed away the horrible aftertaste John Woo left in his overly cheesy and completely lame Mission: Impossible II. Thankfully Abrams is smart enough to not put Cruise in 80 million slow motion shots, toting 2 guns and doing lame flip kicks and other bullshit moves. Don't get me wrong, that stuff was awesome when Woo was doing it with Chow Yun-Fat in Hard Boiled, The Killer, and A Better Tomorrow. Hell, he even made it work for Nic Cage and Travolta in Face-Off. But he just completely misdirected Mission: Impossible II and has continued to misdirect everything he's done ever since. On the opposite end of the spectrum though, Abrams, having already dominated TV, seems to have a very bright future in movies. His only major weaknesses are with romantic scenes and bursts of really bad over-the-top drama. This happens a few times in M:I III and these scenes are pretty laughable, but other than that there isn't too much to complain about.

There were very high expectations on M:I III and they were actually exceeded. The action is big, fun, and loud. The effects are well done and not overused. There are also some laughs and twists as well. For Cruise it's one the most entertaining movies he's ever done. It's a fun ride throughout and I actually found myself a little sad when it was over. Good stuff.