Mission: Impossible III Review

Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 action spy film directed by J. J. Abrams and starring Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is the third entry in this franchise and such a vast improvement over its predecessors.

The plot is still weak. It is definitely better than in previous installments, but it’s still a somewhat boring and typical action film. But the beginning and ending are very good and I liked that structure a lot and it’s used rather well here.

Ethan Hunt is also a much more likable and much better developed character here. And his fiancée Julia is boring, but at least she leads to some well realized scenes. I liked that exploration of marriage and committed relationships of spies and if that’s even possible. That was all really well done and finally one sophisticated plot point in this franchise. Owen Davian is such a good villain with a creepy presence and he adds a lot to the movie’s appeal.

Yes, the acting in particular is pretty good. Tom Cruise is once again quite good and is definitely better utilized than before and gave a much more memorable performance. But Philip Seymour Hoffman is the biggest reason why Mission: Impossible 3 works. He gave such a memorable, creepy performance and brought this great villain wonderfully to life with a great speech manner and many thrilling moments.

But the action remains typical and the cinematography is nothing to write home about, although the scenery of some landmarks is pleasing at times and very similar to the James Bond movies. The pacing is once again poor as the movie starts fast, but is slower later on and ends up being mostly dull. The score is still iconic, but way too overused by this point and especially in this movie. The screenplay has its good parts, but is overall typical and forgettable. Mission: Impossible III is easily the best film in the franchise yet as both Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossible II are vastly inferior to it in terms of quality, acting and entertainment values. But it is still far from a great movie.

Mission: Impossible III does have once again boring action, a tired and dull storyline and it is never particularly exciting or intriguing, but at least it is more entertaining this time around with a great performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman in a great role and some interesting aspects to the story leading to a vast improvement over its predecessors.

My Rating – 3