Mission: Impossible 4 Review
by Jerry Saravia (Faust668 AT msn DOT com)July 27th, 2007
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars
I could not make out much of the plot of "Mission: Impossible III" but I will say, despite Cruise's increasingly negative personal clout, this movie is entertaining and thrill-happy and Tom Cruise makes a convincing hero. For myself, that is good enough.
Cruise once again plays Ethan Hunt, a devil-may-care, fearless IMF agent who seems willing to settle for domesticity with a Katie Holmes- lookalike (Michelle Monaghan). He is devoted to her and they are engaged, until he gets a call about locating a certain IMF agent in peril, his protege Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell who is cast against type ). The agent is rescued in one elaborate set-up, but she also has a time-release explosive charge in her head (guess who else will suffer that same fate). Eventually, the contraption of a plot involves some MacGuffin known as the Rabbit's Foot that must be stolen from a sadistic villain, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). I wish I could say more about the villain but there is not much more - he is evil incarnate and wishes great harm to Ethan and his fiancee. The Rabbit's Foot is stolen and now the villain expects Hunt to return it to him or else the fiancee dies.
I'll make it brief: "Mission: Impossible III" works. It is lightning- paced, despite a fairly slow build-up, it has plenty of high-tech action scenes, explosions delivered on cue, lots of gunfire and machine gunfire, and some canny disguises and double-crosses (the latter of which one is fairly predictable). There is a terrifically nailbiting sequence where Ethan Hunt is suspended between two towers, slides in and out of them like a cat, uses a parachute and is almost hit by a truck. And Tom Cruise is as strong and empathetic as before - the Sincere Hero is still alive and well and Cruise ably performs this part to the hilt.
The big disappointment may be Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is fairly one-note in his acting here (not his fault since it is a one-note, underwritten part). He is threatening only because he tells us so (as in the opening scene), but I don't think he is terribly convincing. Some other actor, perhaps more experienced in cinematic villainy, might have taken this role and made it a scenery-chewing show- stopper.
If nothing else, "Mission: Impossible III" is an improvement over the hazardous-to-your-health "Mission: Impossible II." This movie is more fun, more energetic, more alive and preposterous as hell. Not a great movie and not deserving of any list of the best action films of all time, but that is okay. It is Cruise jumping around the screen with his great ease, instead of jumping around in a couch.
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