Movie: Mission:Impossible - III

My Action Movie of the year

<Aside> Back after a long, long break…one that was driven by difficult and un-bloggable working conditions and then by yours truly getting into the family ways. Tied the knot this Labour Day and was off to New Zealand which is just heavenly (more on that in a separate blog). Managed to see a couple of films in Kiwi-land which will hit Indian screens soon, so thought it’d be useful for the 4-5 odd people who read this blog. (

The thing about sequels and sequels to sequels of hit movies is that viewers go to watch movies with such hyped expectations that more often than not even decently made sequels prove to be a damp squib at the box office. Very few movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Shrek 2 have managed to stand the test of viewer expectations in recent times. When Mission: Impossible was released in 1996, I remember watching it on VCR and going absolutely ga-ga over its gravity-defying stunts, the twisted plot, the cool gadgetry and above all, the adrenaline-soaring title score given by Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton. I remember having borrowed the tape of the OST from someone in school and listening to it a zillion times over. M:I-2  came out sometime when I was in college and every bit intriguing as the first one with Tom Cruise’s Grand Canyon bravados, the masks that were so real you could impersonate anyone else , more cool gadgets and more impossible things achieved in the process of saving the world.

With Mission:Impossible – III, the magic of the earlier impossible missions is back: with more sophisticated tricks in the bag, more beautiful cars and gadgets to drool over and action sequences that make you sink your claws into the theatre seats in excitement. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is no longer on the field with the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and has instead opted for a job as an instructor and the comfort of a family life: he is engaged to Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who looks quite charming in her small role. His fiancé believes that Ethan is working for the Transportation Department. Nothing will get Ethan back into the travails of a field job; nothing except when he hears that his favorite and exceptionally bright student is captured by the baddies. IMF believes that Agent Lindsey might have crucial information about notorious arms dealer Owen Davian (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman of Capote fame). Ethan must break a vow to save his favorite student and the world alongwith it since Owen Davian is planning to sell the Rabbit’s Foot (a radio-active secret that is too powerful to fall into the hands of the wrong people). What follows is an intense 2 hours of action that you have never even dreamt of. But what sets Mission: Impossible from your run-of-the-mill Steven Seagal (no disrespect to him) flick is the fine concoction of suave and gruesome action that has been brewed for the viewers. The masterful break-in to the Vatican is as exhilarating as the aerial attack on Washington bridge. The plot may not win M:I-III an Academy award (and frankly, it is thin) but the suspense is well played out and you do fall for it! Of course gravity is defied(isn’t it in all M:I movies): this time though, Tom Cruise does it with greater panache and no strings attached!

A final word on the performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laurence Fishburne( yeah, he is in too and plays the dirty IMF boss). Both of them have short-ish roles, which is sad but you can’t have a 3-hour long thriller. Yet both these guys impressed me with the sheer variety they brought into the clichéd baddy roles , especially Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is very difficult to imagine how anyone can render your usual evil arms dealer, world hater kind of a role differently but if anybody can do it, surely Philip Hoffman has.

I saw an interview somewhere where Tom Cruise and the director JJ Abrams were trying to differentiate the movie from other versions of Mission: Impossible saying that here there is a romantic angle to the whole story since Ethan Hunt is also trying to save his wife from Davian and there is a more humane side of Hunt on offer. Having seen the film, I find that hard to swallow.


Disclaimer: M:I-III is an action flick through and through. There may be amorous interests in the movie for Agent Ethan Hunt but that is not why you should see the movie. Michelle Monaghan remains gagged and bound in 80% of her role which is hardly half an hour long. So if you believe M:I-III is a romantic action thriller, read the title again: this is Mission: Impossible – III  not Badshah – III (with due respect to Badshah, I loved that movie).

So if pure, unadulterated action is your thing and if you like things stylish, M:I-III is the movie to watch. It’s a no holds barred action thriller and you probably would never see more innovative action all of this summer. ( I am obviously not including Bollywood films like Krrrish, Ghoom (the MTV flick) and  Dhoom-II in this comparison since they are a different league altogether)

Watchability Rating : 4/5