Explosive Mission: Impossible III Starts Summer Right

     During a rescue attempt in Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt injects a feeble Lindsey Ferris, played by Keri Russell, with adrenaline. It provides her with a strong boost as she suddenly gets up, grabs a gun and begins firing. The movie itself has a somewhat similar effect as it prepares you for the summer movie season. With action sequences faster than the time it takes the images on the screen to reach your brain, Mission: Impossible III is pure cinematic adrenaline.

     The downside to the nonstop excitement that Mission: Impossible III provides is that it is missing the calculation that the first in the film series perfected. When thought of as a bomb, the third installment is all explosion and no tick. The constant action is nothing short of exhilarating but the element of suspense is nearly nonexistent. Gone are the complicated surprises that made the television series a hit and the first Mission: Impossible a masterpiece.

     Mission: Impossible III is not completely without intelligence, though. The story picks up as a semi-retired Hunt, is celebrating his engagement to the love of his life, Julia, played by Michelle Monaghan. He must put his wedding plans on hold, though, when he learns that Ferris, one of his trainees is being held captive by the evil Owen Davian, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hunt also learns that Davian is looking for something called “the rabbit’s foot.”

     Hunt quickly marries Julia and then he and a team comprised of Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q) are sent out by John Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) to rescue Ferris, bring Davian to justice and prevent him from using “the rabbit’s foot” for no good. However, along the way, things get personal between Hunt and Davian and when Davian escapes from custody, it is Hunt’s new wife who becomes the bargaining chip.

     Directed by Lost creator J.J. Abrams, Mission: Impossible III is one action sequence after another. As far as blockbusters go, this movie is huge – leaving the unsavory Mission: Impossible II in the dust… or, more appropriately, smoke. It takes about forty-five minutes for the action to really take full force but eventually there is not a minute that passes without an explosion, gun fire or a crash. The action is not backed up by many gadgets or shocking surprises, though, which only makes the motion picture move that much faster. There is very little opportunity to catch up on the plot-points if you somehow lose your way during the story.

     It is hard to not be astonished by Mission: Impossible III but unfortunately the action sequences are relatively basic, lacking an individualized signature such as that of similar sequences in movies like The Island and Speed. Abrams is a terrific director – his style is distinct and the thrills he provides are earth-shaking – but many of the action sequences are deficient of that certain quality that makes you excited when just thinking about them several years after seeing the movie. This is a very in-the-moment flick with little lasting effect.

     Yet even without that extra something that keeps replaying in your mind or the intrigue of the calm before the storm, Mission: Impossible III blows you away every chance it gets. This is an amazing way to kick off the summer movie season – with a bang.

     Continuing with my comparison of Mission: Impossible III. to a bomb, the movie left a lasting impression on the theatre in which I saw it. During one action sequence involving Cruise and a gasoline tanker, one of the theatre’s speakers exploded. That may be the greatest testament of all for Mission: Impossible III.