Thoughts on MI:3 ----SPOILERS AHEAD----

It's funny how people praised the choice of the screenwriters to make MI:3 a more "teamwork" oriented action film instead of the one-man odyssey we saw on the previous two. I Say funny because even if the team exists, it's only there to supply gadgets to Mr.Hunt. It's like those buddies you only remember when you need something from them. As characters they are flat, specially the chineese woman whom her name i forget, that starts praying during a scene, when asked by another character what is she doing, she starts talking about her childhood years and a cat she had.
That other character,Jonathan Rhys Meyers is even flatter, he even says it in the film when he receives commants over the radio from Hunt , "I copy,i copy, all i do is copy". It felt strange to see an actor like mayers who gave a haunting performance in Woody Allen's Match Point to play the guy that only stands there to fill the 2:35 ratio.
Talking about that ratio... JJ.Abrams perhaps was thinking that he was directing another TV show, because the damn framing is so up-close you get dizy in the cinema, maybe it will make things easier for the studio's when they press it onto dvd, but on the big screen, it's hell. He also uses the handheld style that Mr.Paul greengrass used in "Bourne Supremacy", which is defined by the simultaneous fast zoom as the scene progresses.
As for Philip Seymour Hoffman, a complete waste of talent. He appears for a total of maybe 20 minutes, before he dies in a very idiotic way.
I remember saying to my friend while were walking to the cinema "don't expect to see true lies", but i was wrong. Hunt has a wife that doesn't know he's a spy, there's a big fight with a jet plane and a helicopter on a bridge, husband and wife meet while under captivity by the terrorists... etc etc. It's pathetic.

It's better than the other two (which i'm not a big fan of), but it still is a crap movie.

This movie should've been called "Felicity: After College".

Heh, it almost sounds like you didn't go to watch a movie Coaster, but to find reasons to bash it!

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Claiming flat characters in a film such as this is stating the obvious if you ask me. Personally, I've come to expect the lack of in action movies of this nature. I know that raises the whole debate about whether or not we should lower our expectations because a movie falls into a certain category, but Tom Cruise + Mission Impossible... you had to see it coming.

Definitely better than two, I would put it on par with the first if not better.

I don't think Hoffman was a waste. Since when is an actor's worth in a movie determined by their screentime? He was effective in the scene's he was in, and to me thats all that matters.

And while I agree that the "prayer" moment was cheesy, I think you are over emphasing it. It's not as if it was a prolonged attempt at injecting depth into the characters, it was like a 20 second exchange of words used to kill time until Hunt jumps out of the building.

I will however say that I am glad Michelle Monaghan's role was kept to a minimal. Her and Cruise really lacked any chemistry in the scenes they were together in.

Okay, first of all, cut the "Tom-Cruise-sucks-because-he's-a-scientologist-and-is-married-to-Katie-Holmes" crap. It matters not that Cruise's personal life bothers you because that does not affect the quality of his work. Matters like this should not even be taken into account. Say what you want, Tom Cruise is an exceptional actor that functions in both action and drama films.This goes for all entertainers; Michael Jackson may have an unhealthy fascination with kids, but I will still listen to his music guilt-free which is classic regardless of his personal life.

Second of all, the first Mission Impossible was a GREAT film. Lots of mystery, backstabbing, great acting and a great plot with clever twists. They set up this whole team to see them all slaughtered in the first twenty minutes and you never know who is working for who, etc. The scene with the terminal at Langley and the bullet train are deservedly famous. I find this to be an inarguably classic '90's film.
M:I-2 was a step down. It had sweet action scenes but a flimsy plot that completely changed Hunt's character. Instead of a resourceful, cunning agent we get a long-haired badass type that shoots first and asks questions never. John Woo seemed to lose his talent when directing American films; Face/Off was his only truly awesome American effort.
SPOILERS:
Which brings us to M:I-3. While I will never hold it with as high a regard as the original, I enjoyed this film a lot. It managed to blend the action of the second with some of the cleverness of the first to make a great action film that will find a nice niche in my collection. The beginning scene with Hunt and his wife being interrogated was the perfect way to start this film; very intense and nice to see the heroes suffer right off the bat in "Kill Bill" style. Hoffman did a terrific job, although he could have been in the film a little more. I guessed the ending about Crudup's character a little early on but I didn't care because I enjoyed the film so much. My only major complaint is this: I would have loved to see more of the espionage/mystery elements of the first film in this one. THe action sometimes overshadows moments where intrigue could have been injected. It's like comparing Bond films "From Russia With Love" to "Die Another Day"; I much prefer that tone of anxiety and pursuance of the former. I didn't totally dig how the plot involved yet another world-destroying disease like M:I-2, but I found it cute that they never told you what the rabbit's foot was. Simon Pegg's little cameo gave this film an automatic extra boost as well. M:I-3 is definetly a step up from the second and a worthy sequel to this franchise, which could easily be extended to become a new James Bond type of deal.
My ratings:
Mission: Impossible 1: 9
M:I-2: 5.5
M:I-3: 7.5

I'll probably get bashed for my opinion on this film as usual, my opinions are pretty controversial around here (I still think that Crash kind of sucked and that Munich should have been crowned as the best picture, but oh well...) So what, I got my money's worth and got to see Cruise kick ass. What more can I ask for?

what a terrible movie...1 out of 10 from me.

as others have noted, the basic plot is a re-hash of "true lies" (which itself was a re-make of "la totale"). once again, ethan hunt goes into a free fall with a rope until his body is parallel to a surface, and once again, he jumps out of a tall building with a parachute. this guy is short of tricks, and j.j. abrams is a hack.

what's most disturbing is how the movie is a manifestation of how "extreme" tom cruise has become. there's something very wrong with this man, and someone needs to keep him away from his three kids.

why didn't cruise just cast katie holmes in the movie?

Watch for the review to come this weekend...caught a 10 am screening today.

tgp,

once again, movies are not made in vacuums, and they are not viewed in vacuums. this goes for all things in life as well. watching a movie "for what it is" is an attitude that sometimes completely misses the point. for example, if you watch "on the waterfront" without any context, then you might think that it's a pretty good movie about standing up for what's right. however, if you know about elia kazan's life and the era in which he lived, then you might perceive the movie as a defense of his actions with regards to HUAC.

in the same vein, "MI3" was an attempt to show how great tom cruise is. his character will do anything to save his wife, even though sacrificing friends and family members is a routine thing in the line of duty. at the end of the movie, when everyone was cheering the happy couple, it felt like cruise wanted to force us to accept his relationship with katie holmes. this movie left me with a really bad aftertaste, and i'm someone who has liked cruise's work in even the lame "war of the worlds".

eddie

jason,

"MI2" was a gorgeous movie that was more about the beauty of movement than anything else. man, that was a romantic vision of falling in lust/love.

eddie

[Post edited by posters5 on May 21, 2006]

Eddie,

It very well could be. The only things I remember clearly about it were wondering when it was going to end and how badly I wanted to cut Cruise's hair. I mean, longish hair looks good on some people...just not him.