MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III, 2006
Movie Review

Secret Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has decided to take it easy and lead a somewhat normal life. He's even found his perfect woman, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), and is engaged. But when newbie agent Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell)--whom Hunt mentored--goes missing while on assignment, the reluctant agent finds himself back in business. Soon, with his old buddy Luther (Ving Rhames) in tow, along with team members Zhen (Maggie Q) and Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Hunt is traversing the globe on the trail of Farris's captor, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an elusive international weapons dealer. The stakes increase when the villainous Davian gets a hold of Hunt's fiancée and uses her as a bargaining chip.

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REVIEW:

Badda boom, badda bang we’re right back onto the show here folks. JJ Abrams “gets it.” This is a action film with heart and most importantly, a pulse. Every scene is well constructed in terms of character development and plot advancement. While Mission 2 is a strong film in it’s own right, I never felt like it belonged in the franchise. This film, however, I could watch as a direct sequel to the first film and absolutely love it – AND it would work in terms of continuity.

The Story: First off, it’s non linear. Which already puts the audience on their toes. Things happen out of order and the structure of the story is enough to draw you in. Abrams has an ability to grab an audiences emotions right from the word go. We see a nice balance of Ethan Hunt’s home life and what it would really be like for a spy. From lying to his girlfriend, over explaining traffic problems for his cover and even reading the lips of his fiancée’s girlfriends. He may have taken a step back in his job but he’s still a full fledged spy. What I absolutely love about this film compared to the 2nd film is the creation of fully developed characters. Everyone has an identity and a character spine. It’s what drives the film the whole time. It’s very much a character based story – which is only furthered by the McGuffin Rabbit’s foot the whole time. That’s right. We have no idea what Hunt or the villain are after the whole film. And the best part is – it doesn’t matter. That’s how well structured and characterized the script is. Oh and yes, stuff still blows up….and more realistically than ever.

Directing: What can I say? JJ Abrams is a director who knows how to tell a story and define characters. The medium doesn’t matter. TV or film – the man can get a point across. Everything is well structured and implemented within the story. Furthermore he pushes himself to creatively raise the bar in the franchise as well as the action genre in general. He was even able to re-work the spy aspects back into the franchise. Maybe not as much as the first film, but because this is more character based than plot focused – it’s easily forgiven.

Cinematography: I like the color palette of this film a lot. The strong oranges contrast and overpower a lot of the well defined image. The use of color in Abrams film is always striking and attention grabbing – BUT, it’s never annoying (See Batman & Robin for annoying lighting with color. On second thought, don’t see B&R – just take my word for it.) One way or the other, the shot design is well composed to convey the story to tell the story and pull emotions to the forefront.

Production Design: Things in this film are still brand new-esque like the last film, but the grit and grime column gets it’s check too. There’s a contrast of Ethan’s worlds of being a spy and a normal person and that really is a great way to define the way he sees things. The production design furthermore goes into Abrams creativity on expanding the creative palette and grounding the film in a realistic setting.

Editing: The non linear blows me away. The way this film is cut is so well done it should have gotten an Oscar nomination. Yes – it’s that good. But because it’s an action film it gets the boot. Actors and story can deliver. Shot design has to hold up. But create a tense atmosphere and emotional arcs of every scene – you need excellent pacing and passion from the editor. It’s all here, people just take it for granted that they overlook the exceptional ability of it all.

Special Effects: KABOOM. Just great. Breathtaking. It’s the stuff I go to popcorn movies for. 9 times out of 10 I never get this, but this is what I want. And it’s well done. I’m sure there’s some CG drizzled in there but it’s concealed very well if it is. The stunts? I’m pretty sure Cruise did all of them this go around and that adds even more to it all. The action delivers baby.

In closing: Mission Impossible 3 is a great film and a great entry into the franchise. The acting ability is phenomenal, the story – very well told and interesting, the characters are well developed and help move the story along. The action and stunts are breath taking. The editing well developed to pull your emotions in front of your brain. This is everything you want in a action popcorn flick that showcases the best of our generations talent. It’s definitely worth a purchase on DVD.

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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III