Moviewatch: "Mission: Impossible III"

"Mission: Impossible III"
Director: J.J. Abrams
Fien Print Rating (Out of 100): 64
In a Nutshell: If "The Sentinel" was basically the most expensive and disappointing "24" episode ever, "Mission: Impossible III" is the most expensive and successful episode of "Alias" ever, which makes sense given the director's pedigree. Abrams obviously enjoys having extra money as his disposal. The effects are very good and he makes solid use of a variety of international locations. What he doesn't do as well is utilize the big screen and its different potential for scope and framing. Even the action scenes are shot largely in tight close-ups with only occasional establishing shots for scale. The result is an action movie that's far more intimate that what you might be expecting, but that also lacks the superior setpieces that Brian DePalma brought to the first movie. Tom Cruise is in fine form, as is Philip Seymour Hoffman, though the recent Oscar winner comes up a bit short on screen time. In an effort the beef up the role for the MI team -- including Ving Rhames, Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers -- Abrams had to reduce the adversarial relationship with Hoffman. That's a minor disappointment. I also continue to really really like Michelle Monaghan, who does a lot with minimal screentime as Cruise's love interest. As early summer popcorn flicks go, this wasn't a total home run, but it was far more satisfying than "Poseidon."

My full review will be up on Zap2it as of Thursday, I suspect.

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