The Diva's review of
Mission Impossible 3 (2006)

Rated PG-13; running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes
Genre: Action
Written by: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & J.J. Abrams
Directed by:J.J. Abrams
Cast: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Laurence Fishburne, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg

WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW.

The Digest

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is in love with Julia (Michelle Monaghan), a nurse who knows nothing about Ethan's real job or past. She believes he words for the Dept. of Transportation. But that's okay because he is leading a seemingly normal life and is no longer active in the field, but a trainer. It is when one of the agents her trained is captured, does he come out of retirement.

He was coaxed into this assignment by an old collegue, Musgrave (Billy Crudup) Musgrave promises to give Ethan a team that will not fail and this team of good old Luther (Ving Rhames), and newcomers Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q).

This team proves to be kick ass, but the mission is not fully completed, however the do manage to find out that there is a mole within IMF. But they've made an enemy After the daring rescue attempt, Ethan and his team raise the ire of one Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and arms dealer who doesn't mess around. Making it a nearly impossible mission to track down the mole when the are constantly thwarted and their lives put on the line.

Can they stop the mole before they and by extension their loved ones are killed?

The Dish

I'm a big J.J. Abrams fan, so I knew what to expect before stepping foot in the theater. I suspected that there was going to be an underlying love story; snappy one-lines; and quirky characters – including a computer nerd. I was right. I looked forwarded to seeing another dimension to Ethan and I wasn't entirely disappointed. Under J.J. 's tutelage Cruise showed a vulnerability in Ethan that was more exciting than I could have ever imagined. And true to nature, the one was full of death defying stunts and awesome special effects.

But it wasn't Cruise that sealed the deal for me. That was done by Fishburne, Rhames, Hoffman, and Pegg (who you may remember as Shaun from Shaun of the Dead). Their characters were so smartly written that I could almost forgive anything. This reminded me of Alias J.J.'s ABC drama that just ended after 5 years. If “Alias” made it to the theaters, this is what I would have expected to look like. That is part of the problem. It was almost like a 2-hour television movie. The special effects weren't much different than what I see on Alias every week – the explosions were bigger and the car chases more elaborate, but it was pretty much Alias as far as I'm concerned. The irony of this is that now I wish it were a television show. I fell in love with Fishburne's Director Brassel and I'm so glad the Luther actually got to say more than 3 sentences this time. I would love nothing more than to visit the characters every week.

I can't say that Mission Impossible 3 didn't live up to what I was anticipating even though I liked the 2nd one a wee bit better. I'll buy whatever J.J. Abrams is selling.

The Directive

Fans of ABC's Lost and Alias will get a real kick out of this one. Fans of M.I., might be a little put off by the lovey-dovey stuff.

If “Alias” made it to the Big Screen this is what it would look like. Is that a bad thing?

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Copyright Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel-Ulbricht, 2006
EMAIL: thediva@3blackchicks.com
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