Directed by:
J.J. AbramsCinematography:
Dan MindelComposer:
Michael GiacchinoCast:
Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Eddie Marsan (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Recently retired, Agent Ethan Hunt lives a slower-paced life training new IMF agents. With this change, new opportunities enter his life, including a possible marriage to his girlfriend Julia. However, when a new conflict arises, Ethan is called back to duty to confront the toughest villain he's ever faced -- Owen Davian, an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
The intricate espionage games like in De Palma's first film take a back seat, Abrams presents a pure action spectacle, during which you can calmly sit through an unintentionally self-parodic resuscitation scene and the fact that Hunt's emotional relationship with his wife is brought to life through some really toe-curling dialogues, and I, as an ordinary viewer, will hardly care if they are just a mockery of a genre cliché (which I may or may not believe). Leaving aside the recent and brilliant The Bourne Supremacy, the last time I enjoyed a similar ride on the big screen was perhaps twelve years ago with de Bont's Speed. The impressive opening, which introduces Seymour Hoffman as a truly amazing, uncompromising bad guy, is followed by a slowed-down breath to a big continuous action whirlwind that, with a few cool plot twists and very little respite, only ends with the onset of the closing credits. I really enjoyed myself. PS: Cruise seems to be a capable producer and lately a better and better actor, but here again he chose a weaker moment with his sometimes theatrical speech.
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With the third installment, I finally got a great spy film. It had immensely more action than the first one, but was also far more thoughtful than the second film. J.J. Abrams took over as director, and I could feel the change right from the first few minutes. The beginning amazed me, and as the minutes went by, I kept wondering when the pace would slow down. But it didn’t. On the contrary, the pace and action gradually built up. I also praise the story, which wasn’t very predictable and mostly maintained its coherence while avoiding logical flaws. One of the many positives is the cast, especially Tom Cruise, though Philip Seymour Hoffman might have outdone him. I haven’t seen such a slick and intelligent villain in a long time. For me, the third film is the best in the series. I give it 90%. EDIT 08/2023 - This is the best Mission: Impossible! By a clear margin! While the newer installments seem overcomplicated, Abrams' third film is the most balanced in this regard. Perfectly balanced high-tech gadgets with brutally impactful action (like... the bridge heist? WOW), supported by a nearly intimate story where Ethan has to save his wife. And Hoffman is, in a word, brilliant. I haven’t seen a better-written and portrayed villain in action films for a long time. I still stand by my 9/10 after all these years :)
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I don't know why I don't like Ethan Hunt... It's definitely not a problem of the lead actor, because Tom Cruise has finally gotten into a productive age and I think he's playing one great role after another. But there is something disgusting about the scout Hunt, who is a great partner, a lover and, moreover, runs in a truly exemplary manner, with exemplary body guidance and the way he holds his hands. One has to sigh: "Look how beautifully Ethan runs..." But that's not the worst thing about Mission: Impossible III - the worst things about this movie are the non-action sequences. The family sequences. J. J. Abrams unfortunately proves that his domain is working on series, and I say without exaggeration that in the movie theatre, I was bothered by his shallow and stupid conception of interpersonal relationships. And through his acting, Tom Cruise reminded me of his worse times. It's too bad, because trying to turn the dummy Hunt into a man is a good way to go, but in my opinion he managed instead to make a completely different kind of dummy. Fortunately, there is still action, and here Abrams does well. Mission: Impossible III is an old school action film, with all manner of explosions, a wild shootout and a minimum of hi-tech directing solutions. The conservatively, but perfectly filmed action definitely escalates with stylish Vatican infiltration. Here, the director shows his television clip school in full field and we can only say: it is beautiful to watch and it has a damn good tension. Another positive aspect is the magnificent and cold-blooded villain Philip Seymour Hoffman... Such a repulsive and perverted type of character really gladdens and creates a strong tension in the film. This tension works despite the fact that the relationship between Ethan and his chosen Jules got a little annoying for me. But the duel between the inventive agent and a slimy dealer is just so exciting and its action is so adrenaline-fueled that the final idyll, containing perhaps all the worst clichés, including hilarious slow motion, just can't destroy my impression of a good action movie. However, it is quite obvious that the creators wanted to make Hunt a great character, which they failed at. He's just a picturesque boy from an American textbook in a very explosive world. It could have been even better, but the third film is probably the best in the series... A stronger ***.
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Mission: Impossible III has only one absolutely great action scene (and we’ve already seen it in the trailer) and it lacks the high-tech charge that was typical of the preceding instalments. However, these shortcomings are offset by the film’s superb balance of authenticity (!) with a detached sense of humor and, mainly, its dynamic story in which something important is constantly happening, driven by urgency and emotions. Ethan’s relationship with his new wife works very well and when her life is hanging in the balance, it’s about more than saving the world. The less we see of the super-villain played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the more impressive are the scenes featuring him. This is a different but effective instalment in the franchise. It’s a popcorn movie that, like the Bourne films, won’t insult your intelligence. I was most pleased with the breakneck shots, starting on Cruise’s face and continuously following his subsequent acrobatic stunts (jumping off of a skyscraper, running across Chinese rooftops). This makes up for the absence of De Palma and Woo’s eye-candy action from the previous M:I films.
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Hunt's most balanced escapade. Innovator J.J. Abrams managed to revive a somewhat worn-out series into a position of a strong blockbuster player, and thanks to fast editing, well-developed characters, and a close portrayal of Ethan's character, he achieved a nearly historic success. Despite his specific approach, he never lets us forget which action hero we are watching, taking the best from the cleverly targeted mood of the first installment and the action-packed sequel. This time, I found myself holding my breath for the central adventurer, rooting for him intensely, and trembling during all the action sequences. Until the period when Christopher McQuarrie took the series under his wing (forever?), I actually liked the third installment the most among the entire M:I franchise. As the years go by, it loses some of its uniqueness and irreproducibility, but fortunately, not the entertainment value, tangible drive of the story, likable attempts to deviate from genre conventions, and last but not least, the atypical (and all the more cunning) villain.
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