Sunday, May 07, 2006

Mission Impossible: III- Movie Review

Cue the Mission Impossible Theme music! Can you hear it in your head? Yeah there it is. I saw this weekend's blockbuster: MI: III I went with a group including Bryan and Fat Jack and our spouses.

Mission Impossible has been one of my favorite 60's/70's TV shows. (It ran 7 seasons from 1966-1973) I enjoyed the remake series that ran 1988-1990. I had high expectations for the Mission Impossible movies. The first one I enjoyed but it was not as good as the show. The second one was a good action movie but not really a true Mission Impossible story. Would the third one live up to my love for this series?

I took a chance seeing this movie on opening day. It was the third movie in a series, which is usually not a good sign unless it is supposed to be a trilogy. I did not really like the second movie.

Why did I choose to accept the Impossible Mission? (My movie gift card did self destruct upon buying the tickets). The reason I accepted the Mission was that J.J. Abrams was directing and writing the script. As my readers over at Simple Thoughts will already know, I love Alias and Lost. J.J. Abrams knows what I like and always delivers it.

The opening scene is a classic Alias beginning. It starts with Ethen Hunt (Tom Cruise' character) tied to a chair, being told that he has a bomb in his head, and the bad guy threatening to kill the girl then it flashes back to the current time. Eventually we will find how he ended up in that situation. I am hooked from the opening sequence.

I enjoyed how the IMF team functioned in this movie. Yes, Ethan is the main character but his team is much more important than in the other movies. This is how Mission Impossible is suppose to work. Ethan does attempt to do the loner thing but his team shows up to help anyway.

I liked how the action sequences (which are numerous) are used to emphasis the plot. They are not the only plot like in MI2. It also has great special effects.

How did I like this movie? I really enjoyed it. It was worth the $8 a ticket I paid. It was the closest of the three to the Mission Impossible TV show. It reveals how the IMF agents make their masks to look like other people. It also shows a more human side of Ethan Hunt. Over all I would give it a B+ (Thumbs up). I hope that it is the being of a really good summer of movie watching. Go and see it while people are talking about it.

What do others say about MI3?
Rotten Tomatoes 6.8 out of 10
Rolling Stone 3 out of 4 stars
Ebert - Thumbs Down (as seen on TV)
Roeper- Thumbs Up (as seen on TV)

Memorable Quotes:

Owen Davian: Who are you? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? Whoever she is, I'm gonna find her. I'm gonna hurt her. And then I'm going to kill you right in front of her.

Brassel: You can look at me with those judgmental eyes all you want - I would bleed on the American flag to keep those stripes red.

Ethan Hunt: I can't get to the roof!
Declan: Where are you?
Ethan Hunt: Look up! Look up!

Benji Dunn: Oh well maybe we could share a jail cell together!

Luther Stickell: That look in your eyes is pain in my ass, you know that, right?

Owen Davian: [to Ethan] We've implanted an explosive charge in your head. Does that sound familiar?

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