Mission Impossible 3

As part of our third anniversary celebration, we saw Mission Impossible 3–get it? Three, third? LOL. Seriously, we both enjoyed 1 & 2 and are JJ Abrams fans so, bad reviews and disgust with Tom Cruise’s Scientology-inspired antics aside, there was never any doubt we’d go.

You know what? We liked the movie. Cruise was more or less generic middle aged action hero, most of his attempts at emotion delivered by cliched facial expressions, but the rest was decent. Abrams (he created TV’s Alias and Lost if the name is unfamiliar) must have been a fan of the original TV series, and who wasn’t, after all, but apparently more so than the directors of the first two films, John Woo and Brian Depalma, because for the first time I really felt the connection to it.

For starters, the theme music doesn’t sound like a mutation of Lalo Schifrin’s original. Second, there’s a scene where Cruise’s boss assembles a team for him with quick dossier shots of each member. Third, while still employing very modern high tech assists, and a bit more big bang than really necessary, I felt the IM team used finesse and brain power to reach their goals, something necessary in the 1960s with the limited tech available.

Not a perfect or even great movie, to be sure, as some aspects were too predictable and others unbelievable. For instance, on the ground in Shanghai with no resources Cruise is able to out together a bunch of fairly obscure equipment and get the plans of a highly secure corporate office tower in under two hours. While on the run from his own agency.

Bottom line, though, is that this is a fun big budget modern thriller. Jerry Bruckheimer could learn something from watching it.

recommended