Y’know, I have a confession to make – I don’t much care about Tom Cruise’s personal life. I’m a movie buff, and I’ve mostly enjoyed Cruise and the kinetic energy he brings to his roles. But once he’s off the movie screen, I’m not interested in his marriage, his religion, or his appearances on Oprah.
The Cruise backlash perpetrated by gossip columnists is one of those things we’re all kind of aware of, like a mosquito buzzing in your ear. Yeah, Katie Holmes, yeah, jumping on couch, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the bottom line for me still is – how are the man’s movies?
Well, the summer-season opener Mission: Impossible 3 won’t be remembered as Cruise’s finest film, but it certainly gets the job done. Directed and co-written by Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams, it’s the best movie of a series that’s mostly failed to live up to its considerable potential. The first Mission: Impossible was convoluted to the extreme, the second so over-the-top it got absurd. By adding a much-needed human dimension to Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, a strong supporting cast and a straightforward story, M:I3 delivers its summer-movie punch.
We know what to expect of these missions by now – that rousing theme music, intricate sequences of cat-and-mouse spy games, fancy technology, impossibly realistic disguises, lots of things blowing up. Abrams does what he can to use all these tools and still shakes up the “formula” a bit, especially with an opening sequence that’s startling and savage.
Ethan Hunt is trying to settle down – in the previous movies, we never even realized he had a life outside of the action, but here, he’s got a lovely civilian fiancee (Michelle Monaghan) who thinks he works for the Department of Transportation.
Hunt’s no longer a field agent for the super-secret Impossible Mission Force, but when a former protégé of his (Keri Russell) is captured by international arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), everything changes. Davian’s a brutal, uncompromising villain, and his willingness to up the ante makes this a fight more personal than any Hunt’s ever faced.
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Article comments
1 - pank
thomas cruise is no god neither is ethan hunt.....
neither of them (like any of us )blend perfectly with the world ..whether he makes a fuss bout katie holmes of acts weird sometimes all matters to me is that i never fail to see any of his movies..the most important thing about his roles is that theres nothing heroic about those ..not the least one of those who after their missions cooly "ramp-walk" off the screen ..and even if the movie is no legend you cannot just forget the fact that its one of the greatest movie series of all time ..
"HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON A WALL"..the part of the world where i live is just developing a taste for hollywood I feel like on a tall hedge trying to swing over the garden to the pool just after watching the cool movie
2 - reggie von woic
This is the best movies i've watched this year.
The tear-off masks, the phrases "your mission should you choose to accept it" and "this message will self destruct in 5 seconds", the MI song, Keri Russel, Fishburne, JJ Abrams ....what more could you ask for in a movie?
You guys think there's room for another one?
Of course no one thought of Holmes during the movie, Keri was there. The part where Ethan tossed a gun at her and she began shooting by his side is forever is one lovely scene.
3 - Brett
I thought this was a great movie, action packed and on the edge of my seat till, the end, great storyline, awesome cast I thought Tom was at his peak in this one! Also Hoffman was a great Villain and I hope theres another, and Tom rules man!! I thought this was the best in the pack so far. GREAT MOVIE.. if not you didnt see it, see it NOW!!