“Mission Impossible 3” (Paramount Pictures)
Cruisin For A Bruisin
Tom Cruise throws himself into his work in the new action movie “Mission Impossible 3.” Just as the other two installments of this franchise were filled with car chases and explosions, this one seems to have taken all of that to the next level. And boy does our boy Tom get smacked around a lot. There is also a convoluted plot that makes no sense, and a romance that is never believable.
Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a member of the “IMF – Impossible Mission Force.” He has transferred out of the field and into training so that he is not in harm’s way and can concentrate on his personal life. He has a fianc’ named Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who thinks he works at the Department of Transportation.
Hunt gets a call and he is told his mission is to rescue an agent he has trained (Kerri Russell). She has been abducted by villain Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). So off Ethan goes on a rescue mission that also involves co-agents Luther (Ving Rhames), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q).
When the IMF goes to work it involves human masks, voice manipulators, and all kinds of gimmicks and gadgets. Director JJ Abrams makes sure there are plenty of these aspects to pique the interest of the audience. And the action sequences are virtually non-stop, except for a romantic interlude here and there.
Cruise has played this role three times now and he still doesn’t give us much in the way of Hunt’s character. And when Hunt is romancing Julia their scenes seem forced and by the numbers. Monaghan is a beauty but she is also a cross between Katie Holmes and Evangeline Lilly of “Lost” fame. That means she makes us all think of Tom’s “I love that woman” couch jumping days.
It is bad when you can’t shake the actor’s personal life from the role he plays on film, but the off camera life of Cruise permeates his performance from start to finish. You keep looking for Brook Shields to join Phillip Seymour Hoffman in trying to finish him off.
Hoffman is very good in this villainous role, but he doesn’t have enough screen time. When he is on view the movie perks up but when he is gone it is just back to basics. Rhames and the rest can’t elevate the film the way Hoffman can.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Cruise isn’t operating on Cruise control. He seems to be making an effort to make the film a good one, but he is only partially successful. The action is all there but the heart of the movie is somewhere else.
I scored “Mission Impossible 3” an unreachable 6 out of 10.
