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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 / J.J. Abrams (2006)

July 25th, 2007 by Scott Marks

mission-impossible-3.jpg

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3

Directed by J. J. Abrams

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michele Monaghan and Billy Crudup

Running Time: 126 min.

Aspect Ratio: cinemascope3.jpg

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Here is exactly what you want to know up front: It’s much better than the DePalma and nowhere near as good as the Woo.

Scientology cover (up) boy Tom Cruise returns as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, a James Bond carbon copy minus the tux, sense of humor and penchant for hot babes. We commence in mid-action with maniacal villain Philip Seymour Hoffman brutally torturing Tom’s missus (Michele Monaghan) while the helpless hubby looks on. An offscreen gunshot aimed at Monaghan concludes the pre-credit scene and is intended to keep us guessing for six reels whether or not the bullet hit its intended target.

In flashback, the action resumes when Cruise decides to accept a mission to track down colleague Keri Russell in Berlin. Borrowing a page from Charles Bronson’s Death Wish quintet, any woman that becomes close to Cruise either dies or takes a bullet. TV’s former Felicity playing a gun-toting, kick ass action chick brings unintended chuckles to a film and star/producer that take themselves way too seriously.

Surrounded by heavyweights like Hoffman, Ving Rhames and Laurence Fishburne, whose George Serrault complexion isn’t helped by garish lighting and unflattering camera placement, Cruise’s tortured facial expressions and emotional fuming appear ludicrous. This is a brain-on-pause summer thrill ride, but judging by Cruise’s strained intensity, it might as well be Hamlet. Only when the script calls for Tom to disguise himself as the bad guy, Hoffman plays his own double, does his performance come to life.

The rest of the film is precisely what you would expect. It’s loud, loaded with car chases, explosions and Tom doing impossible stunts, the most improbable of which finds him driving a DHL truck and shopping at a 7-11.

The first two installments were commissioned to box office specialists Brian DePalma, John Woo and screenwriter Robert Towne. Cruise opted for a relative newcomer to helm the picture instead of shoveling cash to big name, behind-the-scenes talent. Less money to the writer/director means more for the star/producer.

J. J. Abrams created Felicity, Alias and Lost in addition to penning the laugh-out-loud awful Armageddon. His direction is slick and impersonal: get ‘em on, blow something up, get ‘em off and cut to the next international location. It is everything the general public wants and expects from a summer blockbuster. Consider that a warning.

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Filed Under Reviews, Theatrical


Comments

2 Responses to “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 / J.J. Abrams (2006)”

  1. Jim Hemphill on July 26th, 2007 11:57 am

    While I agree with your one-star assessment of MI3, come on–better than the DePalma?! And DePalma’s was worse than Woo’s?! DePalma’s film blows away Woo’s on every level: technique (his sophisticated ’scope framing and long takes do a lot more to tell the story than Woo’s repetitive slow-motion shots of doves floating into the air); pacing (hence the many inexplicable criticisms that the movie was “confusing”–I guess if you don’t repeat every piece of information three times you’re at risk of baffling the viewer); and yes, behavior (the characters in MI 1 actually were driven by some kind of internal philosophy and external political agenda, as opposed to the cardboard cutouts of both sequels). You’re really missing the boat on DePalma…just because Dave Kehr doesn’t like him doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. Even Mr. Kehr can be wrong from time to time.

  2. Scott Marks on July 26th, 2007 8:07 pm

    Dave Kehr likes “Forrest Gump,” my least favorite film of the 90s. I rest my case on your last assessment. DePalma’s was even more incoherent than this, if such a thing is possible. You are as blind to DePalma as I am to Frank Tashlin. “Mission: Impossible” is his “Sgt. O’Farrell.” Or is that “Snake Eyes?” No, wait — “Wise Guys.”

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