May is the month of “M:I,” as we look back at the six “Mission: Impossible” films from May 2-10. Next up is the third entry, “Mission: Impossible III” (2006):
Just when he thought he got out …
Director J.J. Abrams, at the height of his talents and climbing the peak of his Hollywood powers, delivers a very respectable blockbuster debut with “Mission: Impossible III.” There’s not a lot that’s original in the screenplay by Abrams and his “Alias” collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci; this is one of those third films in a series wherein the hero wants to hang it up and become a family man, only to get dragged back in.
But Philip Seymour Hoffman is chilling as well-connected arms dealer Owen Davian, and the Rome and Shanghai settings are spectacular through the lens of Dan Mindel.
“Mission Impossible III” (2006)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams
Stars: Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames
I actually prefer Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt with Thandie Newton’s Nyha from “M:I 2” (their breakup is never mentioned), but Michelle Monaghan is nothing to sneeze at as Hunt’s fiancée Julia. Monaghan had proven her action chops a year earlier in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and Julia ultimately gets to be a more active player than Nyha – even though she’s a nurse rather than a cat burglar.
“Felicity’s” Keri Russell – later of “The Americans” — also dips her toe into action/spy waters as Lindsey Ferris, an agent who is like a kid sister to Ethan. Hunt has made the classic mistake, one that Davian will exploit: He has something to lose.
“M:I 3” has the most thrilling start so far in the series as Davian counts to 10 or he’s going to shoot Julia if Hunt doesn’t reveal the location of the maguffin, the Rabbit’s Foot. We hear the bang of the gun as the first note of the theme song lands. Who’s not gonna stick around after that?
Less intrigue and mystery
On the downside, there’s much less spy intrigue and mystery here than in “M:I 1” and the first half of “M:I 2” (before John Woo turns that movie into his personal action reel). Hoffman sleepwalks through his performance as an acting choice, and it’s the right one. Davian is all business and pure evil, but not showy about it. When he tells Ethan he’s going to kill his fiancée unless Ethan gives up the Rabbit’s Foot, he’s simply imparting information.
I dig Ethan’s team, which includes Ving Rhames as computer guy Luther (who’s been around since the start), Maggie Q as fighter and sexy-red-dress-wearing distraction Zhen and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as pilot Declan.
Laurence Fishburne plays Hunt’s latest handler, Brassel, and Billy Crudup – who I never recognize outside of “Almost Famous” even though I’ve seen in him lots of things – is IMF suit Musgrave. Outside of the standard-but-good relationship drama between Ethan and Julia, no one has arcs; they are just screen presences. But such is the nature of these movies.
The screenplay briefly raises a compelling question about international undercover work. We already know these agents will be disavowed if necessary, but “M:I 3” mulls how much an IMF boss could get away with if he threw his agents under the bus for his own gain.
Is there an internal justice system in place, at least? It’s bad enough to know taxpayer dollars are going to secret missions, even worse to think it’s going toward the framing and disappearing of good people.
The tech gets even wilder
Getting further from real-world concerns is the tech of the “Mission: Impossible” saga. We’ve seen the masks before, of course, but here we see Hunt’s team make a mask of Davian in the field. A briefcase holds the 3-D printing equipment.
In a matter of minutes, Hunt – who also pads out his suit coat to mimic Davian’s build — is wearing a perfect mask of his enemy. It’s hilarious, but “M:I 3” gets away with it because it knows we wouldn’t be this far into the series if we didn’t give a free pass to the mask absurdities.
Another notable element about this entry is how it handles the maguffin in the manner of “Pulp Fiction” and “Ronin”: It never tells us what it is. An IMF computer wiz, Benji (Simon Pegg), surmises off the top of his head that the Rabbit’s Foot is something that will wipe out all humanity – he calls it an Anti-God.
And we see the container, which has a hazard symbol on it. That’s good enough for me. The writers likely didn’t have a detailed idea for what the Rabbit’s Foot is so they left out the mumbo jumbo about a supervirus or superweapon.
This isn’t the ideal entry for groundbreaking plotting or ideas, but Abrams’ direction is professional and thrilling without any showboating – if there are any lens flares, they aren’t distracting. After all, Ethan swinging from one Shanghai skyscraper to another speaks for itself. “Mission: Impossible III” is populated with good actors playing dynamic heroes and villains, particularly the late Hoffman, whose Big Bad turn should be treasured among his deep catalog.
Schedule of reviews
Saturday, May 2: “Mission: Impossible” (1996)
Sunday, May 3: “Mission: Impossible II” (2000)
Wednesday, May 6: “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)
Thursday, May 7: “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” (2011)
Saturday, May 9: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)
Sunday, May 10: “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)
Also of interest: Shaune’s rankings of the six “Mission: Impossible” films