Mission Impossible: III
As with any other movie you choose to go see or buy or Netflix...you should watch Mission Impossible: III with the following in mind. After the first twenty minutes or so, ask yourself, “Am I interested in seeing how it ends?” In other words, “Am I being drawn into waiting for some sort of resolution?” Or, conversely, are the action sequences distracting...are the plot twists confusing...and are the actors making a believable effort? When the movie is over, did it take you from Point A to Point B then to Point C without putting you to sleep or causing you to walk out or turn off the DVD player and start surfing the cable channels? MI: III did not put us to sleep (a rarity on our couch when we watch rented movies) and we were genuinely drawn into seeing what happened at the end.
Despite all the hoo-hah of late about Tom Cruise. Despite harboring some disappointment in MI:I and MI:II. I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun to watch and I was truly interested in seeing what happened next. Yes, as a dyed-in-the-wool movie technical geek who gets overly concerned about “how’d they do that?”, I bought into the whole thing...to the end.
There were many sequences that I would certianly categorize as over-the-top SPX extravaganzas. Check out the Chesapeake Bay Bridge car caravan attack by a drone fighter plane, it’s mind blowing...especially after you watch the DVD extra on how they actually filmed it miles from an ocean! But it worked. Even Cruise himself was impressive in his enthusiastic portrayal as agent extraordinaire, Ethan Hunt. Many, if not most, of the stunts were performed by Cruise himself. Sure there was a lot of digital manipulation. But he was the one being blown up, dangled in harnesses over high places, and hanging out of speeding SUVs shooting at bad guys. I gotta hand it to him, little Tommy did a good job on this one.
The plot also involved a pretty good rendition of the arch villain, this time played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He plays a sort of international broker of mayhem and (inferred) terrorism, though his specific intention is never revealed in the movie. They chose not to script any kind of politics into this one. Hoffman’s character is quite evil and his portrayal is convincing. In addition, if this was a 007 flick, there are several very attractive “Bond Girls”...or should I say “Hunt Girls”? The fiance, one of his team sidekicks, the doomed agent he rescues...all babes! And yes, Ving Rhanes is back as one of his buddies.
Anyway, Ethan is preparing to get married. During his engagement party, he is called away to the local 7-Eleven to meet with his secret organization boss. This time, agent Hunt gets his instructions through one of those disposeable cameras that burns up after playing the message. And so he is off to Europe and other exotic locales (including Shanghai) for all the action. In the meantime, his fiance is kidnapped by Hoffman and held hostage in order to blackmail Hunt into giving up the location of a secret apocalyptic device, the controller of which would be able to rule the world. That’s the plot in a miniature nutshell.
Mission Impossible III is action-packed and is indeed a pretty good “popcorn movie”. There are several somewhat predictable plot twists and betrayals...but we’ve come to expect that in these movies. We would be disappointed without the twists, as long as they don’t detract from the movie itself. The ending is bit lackluster, but satisfying. Watch the “Making of MI:III” on the DVD, it is not very long and will reveal “how they did that”! Give MI:III a try. Turn up the surround sound and have a good time “at the movies”.
We also saw Nacho Libre the same afternoon. I'll blather about that flick next.
Despite all the hoo-hah of late about Tom Cruise. Despite harboring some disappointment in MI:I and MI:II. I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun to watch and I was truly interested in seeing what happened next. Yes, as a dyed-in-the-wool movie technical geek who gets overly concerned about “how’d they do that?”, I bought into the whole thing...to the end.
There were many sequences that I would certianly categorize as over-the-top SPX extravaganzas. Check out the Chesapeake Bay Bridge car caravan attack by a drone fighter plane, it’s mind blowing...especially after you watch the DVD extra on how they actually filmed it miles from an ocean! But it worked. Even Cruise himself was impressive in his enthusiastic portrayal as agent extraordinaire, Ethan Hunt. Many, if not most, of the stunts were performed by Cruise himself. Sure there was a lot of digital manipulation. But he was the one being blown up, dangled in harnesses over high places, and hanging out of speeding SUVs shooting at bad guys. I gotta hand it to him, little Tommy did a good job on this one.
The plot also involved a pretty good rendition of the arch villain, this time played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He plays a sort of international broker of mayhem and (inferred) terrorism, though his specific intention is never revealed in the movie. They chose not to script any kind of politics into this one. Hoffman’s character is quite evil and his portrayal is convincing. In addition, if this was a 007 flick, there are several very attractive “Bond Girls”...or should I say “Hunt Girls”? The fiance, one of his team sidekicks, the doomed agent he rescues...all babes! And yes, Ving Rhanes is back as one of his buddies.
Anyway, Ethan is preparing to get married. During his engagement party, he is called away to the local 7-Eleven to meet with his secret organization boss. This time, agent Hunt gets his instructions through one of those disposeable cameras that burns up after playing the message. And so he is off to Europe and other exotic locales (including Shanghai) for all the action. In the meantime, his fiance is kidnapped by Hoffman and held hostage in order to blackmail Hunt into giving up the location of a secret apocalyptic device, the controller of which would be able to rule the world. That’s the plot in a miniature nutshell.
Mission Impossible III is action-packed and is indeed a pretty good “popcorn movie”. There are several somewhat predictable plot twists and betrayals...but we’ve come to expect that in these movies. We would be disappointed without the twists, as long as they don’t detract from the movie itself. The ending is bit lackluster, but satisfying. Watch the “Making of MI:III” on the DVD, it is not very long and will reveal “how they did that”! Give MI:III a try. Turn up the surround sound and have a good time “at the movies”.
We also saw Nacho Libre the same afternoon. I'll blather about that flick next.
posted by James | 9:08 AM
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