M:I:III Heart-thumping Action all The Way

M:I:3 (Mission: Impossible 3)
Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Michele Monaghan and Maggie Q
Director: J.J. Abrams
Time: 105 mins
Rating: * * *

WHAT’S IT ABOUT? ‘Retired’ IMF super-agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is engaged to be married to girl-next-door-type Julia (Michele Monaghan) when he is ‘recruited’ into yet another ‘Impossible’ Mission: To rescue his protégé, Agent Lindsey (Keri Russell), from captivity.
But of course, this whole thing is a set-up, ostensibly involving arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the IMF’s next target. There is something about a Rabbit’s Foot which Ethan must recover – and this takes Ethan and the gang (Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q as Zhen) to Shanghai, China, which is the setting for the movie’s climactic stunt.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Arguably the most heart-thumping of the three Mission: Impossible movies, this sequel is one big action sequence after another. You hardly have time to catch your breath. Putting Ethan’s love life into the fray helps get the audience’s sympathy.
However, it has detoured from its TV roots and adapted a bit for its box-office lure. Incorporating a bit of TV’s Alias and Charlie’s Angels, it has heart-throbs Monaghan and Maggie Q who adds a touch of hot Asian spice to the proceedings.

HIGHLIGHTS: Ethan’s split-second escape from an on-coming missile on a bridge, and the painful sight of a Lamborghini being blown apart.

LOWLIGHTS: The plot can be rather confusing and illogical, especially the part where Ethan ‘turns off’ his life.

AND THE LOWDOWN? Oh well, none of the M:I plots made any sense anyway, but we would still see it for its stunts and extreme action.