MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III

Director: J.J. Abrams (TV work, writer of Armageddon, Regarding Henry)
Starring: The Cruise – Scientology Svengali, and others less Cruise-worthy (plus Phillip Seymour Hoffman as “The Bad Guy”)

I love Summer Movie Season! (See, I've capitalized it to show you how much!) It's true that I much prefer good movies, but I also love, well, “fun” movies. Summer Movie Season is all about big-budget, fun movies.
Heck, it’s even more fun to write these reviews when it’s about a movie that doesn’t have a shred of seriousness.

I like coming in from a hot, humid summer evening in my shorts, and then freezing in the sub-arctic air conditioning that theaters can’t seem to control. I like getting the home-equity line of credit that’s required to afford the $24 popcorn and soda with a wholesale value of 12 cents. I like watching things explode, and broadly drawn characters emote, and people running away from stuff, or like in Mission Impossible III, running away and to and around and by and for and up and down stuff. (Yes, there is a lot of running in this movie.)

No, the only thing I don't love about Summer Movie Season is that I always get myself all excited about an upcoming summer flick, but almost without exception end up with a 'blah' feeling once I've seen it. After the months-long barrage of advertising and Today Show appearances, once I actually see the "event" movies I always seem to think to myself: “Well, that was okay. Not great, just okay.” Guess what? Mission Impossible III is okay. Not great by a long shot, just okay. I really miss Indiana Jones right now. Why can't we find another Raiders of the Lost Ark? Why?

Anyway, here’s the problem with MI:III (did I mention I hate movie abbreviations?): the story and direction. The Cruise is actually very acceptable as a super spy. I liked the first Mission Impossible quite a bit. I disliked Mission Impossible II quite a bit more. The first was filled with super spy capers and super spy intrigue. The second was filled with silly stunts and bullets. Numero Tres in the series is less action-oriented than the second, but only by a bit.

The events in this film take place in something like 4 hours of real time (plus or minus the time it takes to fly to China, and Rome, and Berlin). It’s just too hectic. Instead of seeing well-planned super spy heists and capers, we see running and jumping and explosions and frenetic emoting. Here, let me slow it down: It …is … too … hectic. I except from this observation a sequence in the Vatican that I rather enjoyed. That is what this franchise should be all about.

Also of concern to me was the supremely obvious plot. As an example, early in the film you will see an agent get an exploding capsule inserted in her head. We find out that it can be neutralized by zapping it with a defibrillator. We then see that The Cruise’s wife is a doctor or a nurse in a hospital. Guess, oh good reader, please guess how this film finishes?

Standouts: The Cruise does good super spy, Hoffman is a very good actor, and there's a sense of not-badness throughout.
Blowouts: Direction and story were a tad off. Direction didn’t know the right tone to take. Story was weak-ish in spots.

Grade: B