Mission: Impossible 3 (2006) - Review

After the slow-burn M:I2, Tom Cruise hired on a young, up and coming director who's previous television work was frenetic and fast-paced. Enter JJ Abrams, who made his directorial debut with this, the third installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

In Mission: Impossible 3, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has retired from active IMF duty and is engaged to Julie (Michelle Monaghan). When his former trainee (Keri Russell) is captured by arms dealer Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Ethan must return to action in an attempt to save his student and bring Davian down.

Right off the bat, we know we are out of the romantic slow motion M:I2 utilized. The cold open of Davian threatening to kill Julia in front of Ethan sets the tone for the film as high-stakes and emotional. Ethan, in a great bit of acting from Cruise, realizes that he can't outwit Davian in this scenario. This is Ethan at his most vulnerable to date, something that M:I3 shows again and again.

This a matured Ethan, particularly since we last saw him in 2. From playboy super spy to innocuous family man. The party scene at the beginning is my favourite of the whole film. We gain a ton of exposition in a non-offensive, interesting way as Ethan and Julia talk to party guests. We find out Ethan is engaged, and that Julia does not know he's a spy. It's the many subtle clues to Ethan's unique skillset that I particularly enjoy. His attention to detail, how he can manipulate those around him, and his lip reading is all established in this short scene, all of which are called back to later in the film.

The team aspect of the Mission series is back in 3 as well. Following 2's slim team of two, M:I3 gives Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) a lot more to do, as well as expands on the friendship between Ethan and Luther. Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are nice additions as well, who bring both sex appeal and comedic timing to the team. A real success of Mission: Impossible 3 is that it manages to give each member of the team a couple of memorable cool or funny moments, while at the same time being a story to wholly serve the character of Ethan Hunt. That is a testament to the solid direction from Abrams, as well as the tight script from Abrams and his frequent collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci.

The late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman is genuinely menacing as the villain Davian. The power that Davian holds is palpable through Hoffman's calm yet combustible performance. My favourite Mission: Impossible baddie yet.

Abrams knows how to shoot action. The bridge sequence is one of the most tense set pieces in the series, despite its relative simplicity to some of the other higher-risk stunts in the later films. Keeping the camera wide, and employing the shaky cam technique, Abrams direction and cinematographer Dan Mindel's work fills the frame with life. The desperation on Cruise's face is unmistakable as he tries to stop Davian from escaping, knowing the lengths Davian will go to to make Ethan pay. As the team is scattered saving civilians (love when big action flicks stop to have the heroes be actual heroes), Ethan must run, jump and run some more to get across the bridge in time, all while being shot at by a drone. Michael Giacchino's understated score works well when mixed with the gun sound effects, creating a thrilling sequence.

Even a long pseudo-tracking shot of Hunt running through Shanghai is exciting in this film. Cruise is a great physical actor, and when the action stays real-time the scenes work well.

Mission: Impossible 3 is a turning point for the franchise. A deeper dive into who exactly Ethan Hunt is, M: I3 is a character driven action movie, and while it lacks the unique wit the original film had, it is a marked step up from the first sequel. MATINEE.