"Mission: Impossible III," the latest installment of the blockbuster movies which in turn were based from a TV series, is for those looking for a way to start off the summer season at the movies. Here is a movie filled with action and nothing more. There are the usual: Tom Cruise running and getting banged up, high degrees of improbability, explosions, gadgets, the whole shebang. Still, "M:I:III" is a fast-paced thriller that manages to get hold of you for the 120-minute span of its running hour and never lets go.
After retiring as Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team leader to lead a "normal" life with his fianceé Julia (Michelle Monaghan), Ethan Hunt (Cruise) returns to the team to help recapture criminal arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has escaped from prison and is now making life difficult for the IMF. As for Hunt, his encounter with Davian has upped the ante for him: he not only has to save the world now, he also has to save the woman he loves. Cruise (either you love him or you hate him) still fits into his role well, and Hoffman, who has just won an Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote, also effectively displays a chilling seriousness to his villain role. The rest of the cast - Billy Crudup, Ving Rhames, Maggie Q, Michelle Monaghan, etc. - all give nice performances.
It's a given that this film would offer little in terms of intellect or depth in the script. Yet the way director J.J. Abrams and his co-writers injected humor and emotions, plus how its action scenes were superbly handled, save "M:I:III" from becoming just another passable popcorn movie which is why I liked it. It is a film intended solely for the purpose of escapism and it achieves that purpose. Although there is a feeling that it could have been more, it easily surpasses the first two "M:I" in an explosively stylish way.
