Movie Review: Mission Impossible III

What can I say? MI3 didn't give me the 'oohs' and aahs' at first. Part of the reason is that Ethan Hunt is now retired (in the beginning at least) and his life is somewhat normal. But Ethan Hunt is not suppose to be normal. An IMF agent is very skilled. Perhaps even more than MI6 agents. They are suppose to be ghosts - master of disguises that can fool even spouses. They are daredevils, jumping off choppers into tight spaces. So to fix this terrible fact in the beginning of the movie, they showed a very emotional scene from the middle (of the movie) where he was captured by his enemy. Now you got my attention!

After retiring and with wedding plans, he was force to carry out one final mission to rescue his student, agent Ferris played by Keri Russell captured by the enemy. Russell was quite impressive in this action movie and I predict this to be one of maybe a couple more action films for her. She handles herself very well as a serious female action star - good with guns and tumbling around, etc...

The mystery of the IMF office was bared open in this movie. In previous MI films, it felt like agents are somewhat nomadic meeting in strange places receiving self-destructing message devices with (big) central command like the FBIs do.

The bad guy (Owen Davian), played by Philip Hoffman, is Hunt's ultimate nemesis. His evil twin. His is strong, and ruthless. Unlike any MI bad guy before. All the previous ones are motivated by money. At the end of the day, it is about stealing something and selling it for money. Davian is very personal.

What about the action? I felt that I've seen all the action sequences before. For example the famous hanging from the ceiling only a couple of inches from the floor; they seem to have repeated this too many times. At least they didn't dwell too much on the scenes.

The story was a lot more personal. It was about Hunt and not about saving the world. In the first one the main item of interest was the Noc list. In the second it was the Chimera. Both these can have big consequences either to the whole world or to the agency if it got out "in the open". For MI3, it was the Rabbit's Foot. The movie didn't really explain what it does. It is as "biohazard" but what can it do? The story is too personal to explain what the Rabbit's Foot actually is. It was as though the whole movie was one big rescue mission.
Nevertheless, you still get that edge of the seat feel. The tricks they do are still nerve racking. The weapons are still cool (somewhat) - I really like the explosive implants. The movie didn't have a draggy beginning. Action is scattered all throughout. Overall, it is enjoyable and it does have a good twist at the end.

I would rate this...8.5 out of 10