Mission Impossible Three
When War of the Worlds came out last summer, I refused to watch it simply because Tom Cruise's nutty behaviour overshadowed the movie. I was, and still am convinced that Tom is absolutely insane, and his marriage to Katie Holmes and child is all an elaborate ruse. Well, this year, we were treated to not only a new M:I movie, but a new Cruisling. Which, by pure concidence, arrived roughly at the same time.
I am a fan of the M:I movies, even the first, so I kind of wanted to see this one anyway. And, my wife wouldn't go without seeing it, so, here we are. This one was co-written and directed by JJ Abrams, the 'brains' behind Felicity, Alias and Lost. (I was an early fan of Felicity, not one of Alias, and my wife is addicted to Lost. I could take or leave the last one.) Its his film directorial debut, and he's rumored to be involved in the next Star Trek movie. A lot's riding here....
The basic plot follows with Ethan Hunt, now semi-retired, getting married. He's an instructor at IMF, but a late night call has him meeting with his supervisor over Hunt's first field trainee. She's been kidnapped by an arms dealer named Davien. Hunt leads a team, including old pal Luther Strickwell, to retreive her. They partially succeed, but she is killed by a small explosive in her head. Davien plays for keeps.
The fallout leads Hunt to go behind the IMF director's back, with the help of Hunt's supervisor, to get Davien. They succeed, and have Davien in custody. However, there is a crokked agent in IMF, and Davien escapes. The baddy kidnaps Hunt's fiancee, and needs Hunt to retreive an object known as the rabbit's foot.
Hunt's team succeeds, but Davien, along with the IMF mole, take Hunt hostage. In a blaze of gunplay and creativity, Hunt succeeds, killing Davien and the mole.
For the most part, M:I3 worked. It was well shot, well acted, and not too over the top. Some of the end sequence was kind of bad, but the rest of the film held together quite well. Cruise was beleivable, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Davien was a scene stealer and the highlight of the movie. Add in reliable Ving Rhames as Luther, Larry Fishbourne as the IMF head, Billy Crudup as Hunt's supervisor, and a surprising Keri Russell as Hunt's old trainee Lindsay, and you have a pretty solid action adventure. It was pretty servicable, and a good way to start of blockbuster season.
good, but not great, it a 7.
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