Mission Impossible III
Cast And Credits
Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Produced by: Stratton Leopold, Han Sanping (II), Yang Buting
There’s a point where bold becomes stupid, " a character cautions Ethan Hunt as he is about to embark on a particularly preposterous undertaking in "Mission: Impossible III." True enough, and like the vintage series on which they are based, the "Mission" films go beyond that point with such commitment and brio that it is best not to think too hard about any of it.
The films are not so much a continuum as a set of directorial riffs on high concepts. So how do you prefer your mindless mayhem: the oh-so-last-millennium slickness of Brian De Palma’s 1996 film that kicked off the big-screen franchise, the balletic slo-mo violence of John Woo’s 2000 installment or this amphetamine rush of character moments and conflagrations?
The question remains whether moviegoers will choose to accept this "Mission, " perhaps having reached a saturation point with Tom Cruise over his nonfilm doings. But given the six-year gap between the second installment and "M:I-3" -- the project underwent multiple delays while Cruise made "Collateral" and "War of the Worlds, " with numerous cast and helmer changes -- there is no doubt a certain hunger among the popcorn crowd for this brand of full-throttle action.
Whether he is leaping talk-show couches or exploding bridges, Cruise brings a hyper-intensity to Ethan Hunt that makes him, fittingly, human and not quite: Just look at the desperate yet machinelike way he runs.
The chance to see Philip Seymour Hoffman, fresh off his Oscar win for "Capote, " in his first action film also might draw newcomers to the franchise; the versatile actor makes an icily excellent uber-villain. Hefty receipts should greet the film when it opens Friday in 3, 800 theaters.
In his feature debut, "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, who got the job on the basis of "Alias, " takes the driver’s seat with both feet on the accelerator. "M:I-3, " more than its predecessors, is in the spirit of Lalo Schifrin’s sizzling fuse of a theme from the original show -- interpreted here by Kanye West, along with pulse-quickening new compositions by Michael Giacchino.
That theme music and the nifty gadgets are the true heart of the "Mission" legacy, and this film brings a good deal of fun to its infatuation with superspy tech. Although it trades in the same high levels of improbability as the previous films, Abrams and his co-scripters inject some humor and emotion, elements sorely lacking in the first two editions.
The lean script, credited to Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Abrams, is the least self-serious, most down-to-earth "Mission, " insofar as a barrage of preposterous action and ultraviolence can be called down to earth. Ethan has shorn his long locks, perhaps signaling that he is settling into domestic bliss.
Michelle Monaghan lends a good deal of grounding warmth as Julia, his fiancee, a hospital nurse who believes Ethan works in air traffic control (at their engagement party, he bores some of their guests with his faux shop talk).
He has left dangerous field work behind, focusing instead on training new Impossible Mission Force agents. But we know from the brutal opening sequence that Ethan is not about to cool his heels in suburban Virginia and that Julia will get dragged into his latest mission. The story backs up to show us how the couple got into this mess.
The mission Ethan can’t refuse involves Lindsey Ferris (Keri Russell), his first trainee to enter the field. Deceptively milquetoast operations manager Musgrave (Billy Crudup) seeks his help in retrieving the new agent, who has gone missing while tracking black marketeer Owen Davian (Hoffman), a smooth-as-silk creep who sells chemical weapons and has a penchant for implanting time-release detonators in people’s brains.
After a spectacular and headache-inducing showdown in a Berlin factory and a chopper chase through a wind farm, Ethan is stricken when he can’t save Lindsey. He and his team devise a rogue mission to chase down Davian and a Maguffin called the Rabbit’s Foot, an evil mystery tech that is at the center of an $850 million deal.
Ving Rhames returns as computer whiz Luther Stickell, who this time around offers not only flawless know-how but words of caution about the difficulty of personal relationships for spies like them.
Abrams doesn’t overdo this theme, weaving the more personal moments into the nonstop action with nice attention to details -- like the toy rings Ethan and Julia exchange when they elope, goofy symbols of their bond as he leaves for yet another "business trip."
The trip takes Ethan and his cooler-than-cool colleagues to Vatican City and Shanghai, over the objections of IMF director Brassel (Laurence Fishburne), whom Ethan has reason to mistrust.
Dermot (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, in a disappointingly small role), Zhen (Hong Kong star Maggie Q, providing key diversion in a backless red gown) and Luther will do whatever it takes, especially after Davian gets his hands on Julia.
Flavorful supporting performances are a major asset, as are the contributions of designer Scott Chambliss and costumer Colleen Atwood. The film makes especially striking use of Shanghai’s future-world skyline and a nearby ancient fishing village, Xitang.
The breathless pace, complete with ticking deadline, leaves little room for reason. That is just as well, with the story moving deeper into incoherence with every explosion.
"Over the top" barely scratches the surface of a sequence on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. But Abrams, cinematographer Dan Mindel and editors Mary Jo Markey and Maryann Brandon maintain a propulsive, edge-of-the-seat sense of movement and speed, with seamless f/x and stuntwork, not least Cruise’s athletic moves.