Mission: Impossible III (2006) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Returning to active duty, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), leads a new team of IMF agents. They must take down the ruthless arms dealer, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Review:

After John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II, audiences sought a return to form for the franchise.

Mission: Impossible III is now directed by J. J. Abrams. Abrams takes a more grounded approach compared to Woo’s more extravagant film.

Right from the start, Mission: Impossible III sets the stakes high.

Its opening scene involves Ethan Hunt under interrogation by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian.

In the scene, Davian demands that Ethan reveal the location of an object codenamed the “Rabbit’s Foot.”

Although the audience is unaware of what this is, setting it up so soon establishes the severity of the situation.

Without it, Davian threatens to kill Ethan’s fiancée, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan).

Again, this scene highlights the importance of Hunt’s mission and what the “Rabbit’s Foot” might be.

This scene also highlights Seymour Hoffman’s ability to portray a menacing antagonist.

Hoffman gives Davian a calculating aura of intelligence and a callous disregard for others.

After this opening scene, though, Mission: Impossible III slows down in intensity. It instead focuses on Ethan’s relationship with his fiancée, Julia Meade.

Tom Cruise and Michelle Monaghan’s connection as characters is believable enough. Despite this, their scenes together do hinder the plot’s progression.

Also, there are scenes between both characters that include extended pauses between dialogue.

These scenes don't advance the plot or add meaningful character progression. Instead, they are an excuse for melodrama.

This includes the interrogation scene, which takes place later in the film. Due to its dramatic nature, it fails to have the intended impact.

As a whole, these scenes hamper Mission: Impossible III’s story progression. Despite this, its more grounded action and tone are welcome.

Gone are John Woo's overblown stunts and explosions from Mission: Impossible II. Instead, J. J. Abrams brings the gadgets back.

This film's action can be difficult to comprehend at times due to a fast-paced editing style. Despite this, its impact is still felt.

This happens during Ethan Hunt’s final confrontation with Owen Davian.

Both characters strike each other with brutal efficiency whilst using the environment.

Furthermore, there is a sequence in Shanghai. This is where Ethan Hunt parachutes from a high-rise skyscraper. It is both tense and well-shot, despite some over-editing.

Mission: Impossible III also sees the return of tech expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames).

Ving Rhames’ as the character is more active this time around, which is welcome. Rhames and Cruise also bring their charisma along with them.

As with this film’s original score, American composer Michael Giacchino's is entertaining.

Take his incorporation of drums during the opening credits as an example.

Conclusion:

Mission: Impossible III offers some welcome improvements over the second installment.

These include a superior antagonist and a more grounded tone. It also improves on the action and visual style.

Despite this, some action sequences fall prey to over-editing. Regardless, most of them stay grounded within the parameters of this universe.

Returning actor Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell is also a welcome addition.

Michael Giacchino’s music score provides some excitement. He does this by incorporating different themes into the franchise, such as drums.

Mission: Impossible III loses momentum in its scenes between Ethan and Julia.

As mentioned, these scenes contain very dramatic, extended pauses that are unnecessary.

Also, the dialogue between the two isn’t as well-written as it could’ve been either.

Despite this, both actors are above average with their material.

This dialogue approach takes away from scenes where actual plot development should be taking place instead.

Regardless of its melodramatic story, Mission: Impossible III is still recommended.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 7/10

Story - 6/10

Action - 7/10

Visuals - 7/10

Soundtrack - 7/10

Overall score: 6.8 out of 10

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