Mission: Impossible 3 Review

Good Points
Some good special effects

Bad Points
Just felt like one long stunt reel
Lack of plot
Excellent supporting cast underused

General Comments
I somehow missed Mission Impossible 3 at the cinema so ended up renting this weekend. I had really been looking forward to this film, especially considering I was a big fan of MI:2. I have to be honest and say this film is nowhere near as good as the criminally underated MI:2 and for me it was a big disappointment.



The plot is sketchy at best, The Cruiser has hung up his special agent boots and is now with the IMF in a purely teaching capacity. He has also discovered domestic bliss and is happily hooked-up with his new wife. Sadly it all starts to go wrong when Cruise's protege is captured in the field and the IMF botch the rescue attempt.



This leads to the IMF going after the villains and a mysterious commodity called The Rabbits Foot which the bad guys need to hatch their dastardly plan.



My main problems stem from here, the film lacks a decent plot and it is all very formulaic. There is no intensity or tension built into it, no clever twists or even any decent villains. All we get are about 5 set-piece by the numbers big budget action sequences that are just okay and don't really serve the plot very well.



As in previous MI outings we have got to know the bad guys a little bit and seen them engage in some banter with Cruise, there is simply none of this. We don't really know the villains motives or anything about them which all leads to a rather contrived and led-ballonesque final showdown.



The grand finale is also ridiculous and anyone who has seen the 24 series 4 finale may feel a sure sense of deja vu. The difference is that 24 just about pulled it off, and the MI3 effort comes across as a cheap hustle.



Other complaints include the attempts at humour with Simon Pegg trying in vain to make a pants script almost workable. Sadly he can't pull it off though - if only they had managed to persuade Gervais.....



It's a real shame that this film is a letdown because all the elements were there to make it a great one. Despite having an excellent ensemble cast, they are barely used and Ving Rhames (previously a key member of the team) is reduced to nothing more than a cameo role. The same can be said of MI newcomers Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laurence Fishbourne.



Mission Impossible 3 is directed by Lost creator JJ Abrams and you can see his stamp all over it, indeed much of the score sounds like it has come straight from 'The Island' and I half expected John Locke to pop up in a flashback adjusting his toupe while doing doughnuts in his VW Beetle.



My final complaint is the use of a 'Mole' in IMF. Again, another lazy idea nicked from 24 and again if you don't guess who The Mole is then you probably have tumbleweed between your ears.



All in all save for the odd action scene this film was a severe let down.