Mission: Impossible III is the best one so far

Often in action movie trilogies, by the time you get to the third one it is pretty bad, but I thought Mission: Impossible III was the best one so far. The first movie was hard to follow and the second one was way over the top, but this latest installment contained the right balance of action and suspense to make it a great kick-off to the 2006 summer blockbusters. Instead of using a big name director like Brian De Palma (M:I 1) or John Woo (M:I 2), this movie employed a television director (J.J. Abrams of Alias and Lost) and the results were fantastic.

This movie opens at the beginning of the end, much like Fight Club. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his new wife (Michelle Monaghan) are held prisoner by a criminal arms dealer (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Hoffman’s character is looking for something called ‘the rabbit’s foot’ and counts up to 10 as he threatens the couple. As soon as he reaches 10, the credits begin to roll and then the story jumps back several months.

The main plot to MI 3 involves an arms dealer who is involved in the sale and purchase of some mysterious device called the rabbit’s foot. It never fully explains what this device does, but I think it involves either nuclear or chemical warfare. The rabbit’s foot isn’t quite as compelling as the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, but it does make for interesting storytelling. As Ethan Hunt and his crew track down Hoffman’s character, they stumble upon a conspiracy that might involve someone on the inside of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) and personal trust becomes an issue. It all leads back to that opening scene, and then goes on for several more scenes as we finally find out what was happening.

Tom Cruise continues his role from the previous films and I think he handles it well. He plays a type of character that doesn’t need to be a huge muscle head, and the fact that he’s not a big guy lets him slip into the role better. I think to be a super spy like that you would have to be of average height and size so that you won’t stand out in a crowd. Michelle Monaghan, who I recently saw in the excellent Kiss Kiss Bang Bang turns in a great performance and I expect to see her in more future roles. Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys-Myers, and Maggie Q all turn in great supporting roles and Cruise’s backup crew. Also look for Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) in a great supporting role. Finally, Phillip Seymour Hoffman turned in an excellent performance as the cold and overly confident villain behind the whole thing. He delivers threats so nonchalantly that you can’t wait to see him get what’s coming.

What I thought made this movie better than the previous two were the huge action sequences combined with a solid plotline. The action scenes in this are more straightforward and don’t involve any kung fu like from the second movie. There’s a huge bridge sequence that reminded me of True Lies, plus a number of great gunfights and aerial stunts. There weren’t any car chases, though. For a big summer movie, I thought this movie really delivered the right combination of action and dialogue. In other words, it wasn’t too dumbed-down.

My biggest complaint about this movie was the cinematography. During many of the action scenes the ‘shaky camera’ effect was used and it became hard to follow the action. The overuse of quick edits and close-up shots also made the action hard to see. The cinematography was done by Daniel Mindel, who had collaborated with director Tony Scott in the past. When I saw that Mindel had previously done Domino, it explained a lot. The cinematography isn’t always bad, but for example in the helicopter and parachute scenes you can barely tell what is happening.

If you enjoy good action movies, I think you will like Mission: Impossible III. While Ethan Hunt will never be like an American James Bond, I still think he and the whole IMF crew are fun to watch. It’s rare that a series like this can stay strong after three movies, but this one still entertains.