Movie Review - Mission Impossible III

Well, I just finished watching the summer's first blockbuster. Yes, MI III lives up to the hype and delivers a solid entertainment experience. It should be a big hit and rake in lots of cash at the box office. I guess Tom and Katie won't have to worry about Suri's college fund.

MI III has lots of (forgive the pun) impossible action sequences, fancy gadgets, and plenty of plot twists and surprises. The movie also has a great story line which helps add to the experience. When I go to see an action movie story is always secondary to me if there are plenty of explosions and lots of gunfire. But MI III has the added bonus of a good script which is a big plus.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you ladies that the star of the show is Tom Cruise, who once again takes on the role of secret agent Ethan Hunt. This time we get to see some "normal life" scenes from Tom as Ethan has meet a woman he wants to marry and has retired from field work in order to train new agents. This could have been silly, over the top stuff ala Spy Kids, True Lies, and/or Mr. & Mrs. Smith but MI III keeps it real and very believable. I only wish that they had included a scenes of Ethan jumping on the couch.

Ethan goes back into action when one of his trainees gets captured by the bad guys. This leads to a great action sequence of the IMF team breaking into a warehouse, getting the agent out, and then the pursuit by the bad guys. Then there is some down time while plot points are ironed out before what is in my opinion the best action sequence of the movie-the team breaks into the Vatican to kidnap a bad guy. The Vatican sequence showcases what is great about the Mission Impossible movies: agents in disguises, clever infiltration tactics, rubber masks, voice imprints, and some humor thrown in for good measure.

Another good sequence involves an attack on a bridge, which most people have seen a glimpse of via the TV commercials of Tommy Boy being slammed into a car. While this sequence was very good, it can't quite top the Vatican sequence in my opinion. The ending of the movie was pretty good too, with the great use of what I call the "teaser tactic" where it seems as if it is about to end, only to go into another section and so on and so on.

The most disappointing thing about MI III was the lack of use of Philip Seymour Hoffman as the bad guy. He actually is not in very many scenes and has very minimal dialog in the scenes he is in. I loved his character in Twister and was looking forward to seeing him in this role.

But even with that small flaw, Mission Impossible III is still an awesome movie and a must see. It earns The Bicycle Rack's top rating of: