Modern-day James Bond gloss

Film review: Mission:Impossible:III

Call it serendipity, but in Mission:Impossible:III, Ethan (Tom Cruise) finds a wife and true fulfillment, and so is this a case of art imitating life, or what? Did Katie Holmes have anything to do with the screenplay?

The problem with franchise films such as M:I:III is that a whole slew of expectations comes with each film. Be honest, who of us out there really think the Star Wars franchise should have extended beyond the ’80s? At some point, the regurgitated characters and plot developments seemed belabored and hackneyed, and the cinematic magic that was Star Wars felt stronger in the retelling of how we saw that first film or The Empire Strikes Back, than in the latest soap opera installment of The Romantic Adventures of Princess Amidala and Anakin.

With Mission Impossible, the success of the film will hinge on the villain, and the successful marrying of adventure with technology and special effects. There is essentially nothing new in these departments with M:I:III. The lifelike masks that are utilized we’ve seen in Darkman. The stunts of stealth and subterfuge we’ve seen in previous episodes or in films like Entrapment. But there is that desire to like this film, inasmuch as there are fond memories stretching back to the TV series. And somehow, with the fast pace of the film and the innovative use of these technological tools and special effects, the film provides excellent entertainment. Helping this film provide something novel and eminently appealing are the team members of the Impossible Mission Forces (IMF).

Ving Rhames as the sardonic second-in-charge, and Hong Kong superstar Maggie Q (of Naked Weapon fame) are the standouts in this film’s IMF team. Director JJ Abrams cut his teeth on such TV series as Lost and Alias, and his transition to the big screen is effortless. The helicopter chase in the field of modern windmills is particularly strong. The shifting of locales – the Vatican, Shanghai, etc. – gives the film a modern-day James Bond gloss and Tom Cruise still manages to give us boyish rogue appeal, tempered by steely-eyed determination and newlywed resolve(?). Philip Seymour Hoffman throws us his acting chops in a manner reminiscent of John Malkovich in In the Line of Duty. It’s "respected actor for his craft going against type and giving us off-the-wall villain."

The only things I’d criticize are the last 10 minutes of the film. It strains credulity to discover Michelle Monaghan (Ethan’s wife) can so quickly graduate from intern in a hospital to markswoman. The romantic scenes earlier on when Ethan proposes to her also have him hamming it up for the camera with stares that looked too much like Scientology gone berserk. I had my boys with me at the Studio 23 Block Party premiere, and while they did enjoy the film, they were themselves volunteering that the second film still ranked in their estimation as the best in the series.