Mission: Impossible III was a disappointment at the box office, failing to reach the level of either of the two prior entries. The DVD release looks to rectify the monetary situation. I wish the movie had done better — it is actually quite good.

The movie opens with such an intensity and ferocity that was rather unexpected; even on the small screen, it is highly effective in setting the stage for the rest of the movie. It gives us a quick introduction to both sides of our story and hints at what is to come. It solidifies Philip Seymour Hoffman as an absolutely sadistic bad guy, and re-introduces us to a much more focused Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt than was seen in the last film. This opening and subsequent action helps to personalize it, to make it more than just a spy flick.

That personal touch is no doubt the responsibility of director and co-writer, JJ Abrams. Before making his big screen directorial debut here, he had been making quite the name for himself as the mastermind behind Felicity, Alias, and the current ratings juggernaut, Lost. He brings aspects of all that experience to this movie. MI:III has been criticized for feeling like a television episode, but I think it is more the opposite. Abrams may have never directed for the big screen, but he brought a big screen look and feel to the small screen, so it stands to reason his cinematic small screen approach would follow him to the big screen. It is more of a case of the big screen inspired by the small screen, which was inspired by the big screen. Circular logic, to be sure, but that is how I look at it.

The third big screen outing finds Ethan Hunt retired from active duty, content to train new agents, while preparing to settle down with his fiancée. His fiancée Julia (Michelle Monaghan) is kept in the dark about his profession and his past, believing Ethan to be with the traffic commission. Things are going fine, there is an engagement party going on, but then a call comes in. A call that gets Ethan back in the field.

The story then weaves a web of double crosses and potential mass destruction, the fulcrum being something known as the "Rabbit's Foot." What that is, is never revealed. It serves a similar function to briefcases in Pulp Fiction and Ronin — what it is, is unimportant, its purpose is to move the action along — it is the MacGuffin.

MI:III brings back the team aspect, which had been largely absent from the first two films. The team is made up of the returning Ving Rhames as Luther Strickell, Jonathan Rhys Myers (Match Point) as Declan, and Maggie Q as Zhen. The three of them, plus Ethan, are involved in some great set pieces, the greatest segment probably being the elaborate kidnapping in the Vatican. This is still, clearly, the Cruise show, but it is nice seeing the interplay of the actors.