Will Tom Cruise be able to survive his antics of 2005? The Katie saga, the Lauer face off, the couch jumping, the list goes on. 2005 was a strange year for Cruise, off and on the screen. Off screen there were confrontations and wacky news stories galore, on screen he starred in one of the highest grossing films of the year, Spielberg's re-imagining of War of the Worlds. I know a lot of people whose opinions of Cruise were colored by his personal life saga, and I am not above the effect. I think Cruise is a good and underrated actor, and I hope he continues to prove that.
M:I:III will be a big test of his continuing star power. I believe the strong marketing campaign will go a long way to get people out there, and if the movie is good, all the better. I have enjoyed the first two outings, preferring the second one with John Woo behind the camera. The clips I have seen of the third mission look like a lot of fun.
The trailer and the first two commercials play up the action while spotlighting a couple of the other stars in the film. Co-starring with Cruise are Ving Rhames (reprising his role from the first two), Keri Russell, Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q, and our bad guy, the excellent Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Besides the nice lineup of talent, we have an unproven big screen talent at the pen and the lens. JJ Abrams is the writer director of this, his first shot at the big screen. He has already proven himself to be a star of the small screen as creator of Felicity, one of my favorites Alias, and current ratings powerhouse Lost. He has written for film before, including Joy Ride, Armageddon Gone Fishin', and Regarding Henry. I really hope that he does well here, his small screen work has been excellent, and what I have seen in the trailers looks promising.
The trailer and commercials all feature Phillip Seymour Hoffman early on, telling us just what he has in store for our hero, and it isn't very nice. From there, we kick into the classic M:I theme, teamed with plenty of explosions and gunfire. I love an over-the-top action flick, and this looks like it will fit the bill, but I've been wrong before....
Visit MissionImpossible.com to see the Teaser Trailer, Superbowl TV Spot, TV Spot #2, and a brief Behind the Scenes Featurette.
Edited: [!--GH--]
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