In what seems to be the final chapter (although don’t be suprised to see another!) of the Mission Impossible series Ethan Hunt and crew encounter their most impossible mission yet....end the trilogy on a high note, but with Tom Cruise’s recent decline of popularity this mission might prove to be truly impossible even for the IMF.
So I finally got a chance to catch “M:I:3” yesterday, and I can honestly say that the guy in me seeking action, expolosions and cool fight scenes was totally satisfied, but the logical side in me seeking good dialogue and a decent ending to the “M:I” trilogy was really, really let down.
Can I just start by saying that I don’t hate Tom Cruise. In fact I rather enjoy several of his movies, I mean give the guy credit he’s starred in classic movies like Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Risky Business, Interview with the Vampire...etc. Having starred in all of those, and having delivered very good performances for the most part throughout his career I can cut the guy some slack when it comes to his recent string of completely ridiculous behavior. Yes Tom we all know you knocked up Katie Holmes, and yes we all saw you jump up and down on Oprah’s couch....now how about taking some of that energy and investing it into a decent movie?
I’d also like to say that the one thing that throws me off about the guy more than anything is that frickin’ tooth he has in the middle of his mouth. I know most women find him to be amazing looking, and that’s all fine and dandy, but let’s face facts--the guy has a damn tooth in the middle of his mouth! and it’s distracting! I swear during the entire time I couldn’t help but stare at that tooth...it’s like his teeth got shifted over to the left somehow.
Ok, now that I’ve gotten all of that out of my system, on with the review....
I’m not going to sit here and bore you by recapping the entire film’s plot because frankly why would you be reading a review unless you knew at least SOMETHING about what the story is about right?
First off let me start with the good parts of the movie. Those seeking a non-stop action movie with tons of explosions, fight scenes and kick ass weapons...this is your movie. Literally the action does not stop from the start of the film until the very end, and by the ending scenes you are literally out of breath from trying to keep up with the pace of the film. I also really enjoyed how clever the IMF (the team Ethan works for) pulled off some of it’s jobs. Without giving too much away I will say that there is a scene that involves them breaking into the Vatican--when they proposed this plan in the film I could hear more than one person utter “oh come on, how the hell are you going to do that??”...well they did, and it was AWESOME. There are also a few action sequences that, although are completely out of the realm of reality, are fun to watch and will definitely make you say “WOW!” just like I did. As far as action goes this movie definitely delivers on every level. It’s got car chases, awesome gun fights, hand-to-hand combat sequences, and of course PLENTY of things blowing up all over the place.
Now on with the bad…
Where the action is definitely the film’s strong point, the dialogue is not. There are a couple of scenes in the film when I found myself cringing thinking “they didn’t just say that"--most of the time it was dialogue between Ethan and his crew (suprise suprise). Now don’t get me wrong, there were some good bits of dialogue, but those came mainly from Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who plays a GREAT villain), and Lawrence Fishburne who plays Ethan’s boss and one bad mother f’er that could make you wet your pants just by giving you a look. In addition to some of the shotty dialogue, the film’s ending is seriously one of the worst endings I’ve ever seen. To be completely honest I felt like I was watching a Mentos commercial; the only thing missing was the freeze framed high-five from the team after they’ve just saved the world yet again....yes it was that ridiculous.
All-in-all I did enjoy the film. Is it something I will remember for the rest of my life? no, not even close. It was however a fun way to spend 126min of a Tuesday afternoon after you’ve just loaded up on pizza and lemonade. In my opinion this is probably the most entertaining of the series. I use the world ENTERTAINING because that’s pretty much all this movie is good for. If you’re looking for something to stimulate your mind and make you think then wait until Friday when "The DaVinci Code" comes out, however if you’re just looking for some good, clean fun and even a way to show your date what kind of “manly movies” you’re into....this is your movie.