Mission: Impossible III

Co-written and helmed by J.J. Abrams (Alias), this latest installment in the franchise based on the old TV series makes a major mistake in trying to humanize special agent Ethan Hunt by putting his lover (Michelle Monaghan) into deadly danger at the hands of a horrible villain (Philip Seymour Hoffman) out for revenge. Question: do we really want to see this sort of soap-operatic domesticity in an M:I movie? Answer: no, especially since Tom Cruise plays Hunt with an almost preternatural intensity that turns him into a curiously robotic figure, so every effort to invest him with feeling falls flat. The plot—despite all the running and jumping, swinging and shooting, explosions and fights—is standard-issue-action revolving around efforts to foil international arms dealer Hoffman's scheme to acquire some sort of doomsday device and sell it to some unholy purchaser. Of course, that's just the thread on which to hang a string of set-pieces—including a rescue operation featuring a dogfight between helicopters in a field of wind turbines; a job requiring the team to sneak inside the Vatican; and a sequence in which Hunt has to swing between tall skyscrapers before dropping, bungee-style, to the street. Amidst all the hubbub, the endangered romance is supposed to act as the emotional glue holding everything together, but it can't fix the plot holes or hide the fact that once again there's a traitor within the American ranks manipulating everything. As a time-waster providing an empty adrenaline rush, Mission: Impossible III is serviceable, but that's about all. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by producer-star Tom Cruise and director J.J. Abrams, a 29-minute “The Making of the Mission” featurette, a “Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit” featurette (26 min.), an “Inside the IMF” featurette on the fictional espionage agency (21 min.), “Launching the Mission” clips from various world premieres (14 min.), “Visualizing the Mission” on animation sequences (11 min.), an “Excellence in Film” tribute montage to Cruise (10 min.), “Metamorphosis” on the use of masks in the film (8 min.), a “Moviefone Unscripted” interview segment featuring Cruise and Abrams (8 min.), five deleted scenes (6 min.), a five-minute “Scoring the Mission” music featurette (5 min.), another tribute montage “Generation Cruise” (4 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an unremarkable popcorn flick.] (F. Swietek)