"Mission:Impossible III" - Not Quite A Dream Cruise

"Mission:Impossible III" Rating: 7/10 Mission: Impossible III (2006) Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J.J. Abrams Directed by: J.J. Abrams MPAA: Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images and some sensuality). Runtime: 126 min. CAST...Tom Cruise: Ethan Hunt Ving Rhames: Luther Strickell Keri Russell: Lindsey Phillip Seymour Hoffman: Owen Davian Bahar Soomekh: Ms. Kari Lawrence Fishburne: John Brassel Jonathan Rhys Meyers: Declan Billy Crudup: John Musgrave Mission:Impossible III, or "M:i:III," as the poster reads, went through more changes in directors and cast members than Tom Cruise would care to talk about honestly. That's why it took so long for the movie to be released. But somehow, after all the changes and time wasted getting the crew in place, they got a movie out of it. And they got away with it, too, because Mi:III is not bad. It's not great, but it's not bad -- good enough for a 7 out of 10 rating. What they did right is this: they assembled a real crew of special forces mercenaries, just like the TV show did in the 1960s. The previous two M:I films consisted basically of a pretty girl or two, Ving Rhames and Tom Cruise, and a bunch of bad guys and explosions and stuff. Come to think of it, M:i:III consists of a pretty girl or two, Ving Rhames and Tom Cruise and a bunch of bad guys and explosions and stuff. But, in M:i:III we get a group of several more good guys -- enough to form a real team of people working to save the world so we all can live happily and drive around in our SUVs while paying fifty dollars to fill up the gas tank for a week. I didn't care one bit about Tom Cruise's character in M:i:III, Ethan Hunt. The acting just isn't there. The M:I franchise is just a vehicle for Cruise to look cool. But I did care about Ving Rhames' character, Luther Strickell, and the rest of the crew, too, particularly Bahar Soomekh as Ms. Kari and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Declan, who turned in very good performances -- a tough thing to do in a movie filled with chase scenes and Tom Cruise chewing up scenery and doing his own stunts (except, there was no jumping up and down on a sofa in M:i:III). The M:i:III plot doesn't matter, except that there is one and it's not hard to follow. It's the good-guy mercenaries, along with super-evil bad guy Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who turns in a great performance as Owen Davian, working as a team that earn this film a successful rating. Director J.J. Abrams gives us that "Alias" meets "Lost" TV show feel on a steroid-inflated budget (Abrams is the main man behind both TV shows). Most of the chase scenes are good, the explosions blow up real good (why did they have to do that to a perfectly good Lamborghini?! Mama mia!), and the good guys come out on top. That's all you need to know to walk in, grab some popcorn and enjoy a springtime blockbuster. -2001pm -30-