Like
Cruise himself (Oh, that’s right, promised to take him out of the
equation didn’t I? – easier said than done I guess, considering his
misshapen image of late), the Mission: Impossible
series was in calamitous need of a makeover. Though the first film –
directed by Brian De Palma – was good, and appreciably clever, it still
seemed a little uneventful - even for 1996 standards. In essence, there
was really only a couple of memorable scenes in it, and even those,
didn’t blow anyone away (though the opening sequence is still the best
of the three). The sequel, released three years later, was a
shambles – part of the reason why a lot of look back on the first film
as gold – it was no more than a series of slowed-up action sequences –
typical of director John Woo – without one ounce of storyline to
support the lunacy of it all. It was, simply, more painful to watch
than a pack of zebras wandering imperceptibly into an alligator pool. Obviously
willing to try anything to get this out-of-control loco back on track,
Cruise put his utmost trust in a newbie, TV whiz-kid J.J Abrams (Alias, Lost),
which involved giving the acclaimed small-screen veteran free reign to
do essentially whatever he liked. And it shows. From the story to the
characters to the cast (look for a few familiar faces from some of
Abrams’ TV series) and crew – this is J.J Abrams movie, before it’s a
Tom Cruise movie. (Contrary to reports, Cruise obviously doesn’t have
an ego the size of Trump’s bank balance). The semi-retired Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is called back into duty, when an agent friend (Keri Russell, of Felicity
fame) goes missing. All signs of her whereabouts point to the lair of
Owen Davian (recent Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman), an
international weapons and information provider with no repentance and
no scruples, whose planning nothing but big bad for the wonderful
world. It’s going to take a lot more to catch the sucker though – he
may be stout and slow, but Davian’s a tricky SOB – and not before
Hunt’s fiancée, Julia (Michelle Monagahan) – who, by the way, has no
idea that her partner is a spy - is thrown into the line of fire. Abrams
was always the right man for the job. Always. After all, his hit TV
series “Alias” is nothing more than a souped-up scholar’s version of
the 60’s TV series Mission: Impossible – what with it’s twists, turns, spies in disguise travelling the world scenario. And his template for the Mission sequel is essentially what an Alias
movie would’ve been liked – only with the action cranked up to 11, the
plot mechanics yanked up to 12, and the surprises surpassing 13. Only
disparity being, of course, that they’ve had to insert Cruise’s Ethan
Hunt character into proceedings. Now don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t
feel like a could’ve-been once a stand-alone script that’s been
retooled to fit a franchise, not at all, in fact it’s obvious it was
always Mission 3 – it’s just done the way Abrams would do it. For the first time in the M:I
series, Hunt has been written as a man, a human, someone with actual
feelings and eventual bruises, rather than a puppet on strings –
similar to Alias’s long-suffering lead sssh-agent Sidney Bristow, if
you will. (In some respects, because of the more fleshy character, this
feels like a different movie – something much better than the third
chapter in a so-so film series). The breath of fresh air works.
It works a treat. Not only do we care about Hunt, and the rest of the
characters - for once - but we’re given a truly gripping, not to
mention very smart, plot to hook us in. But this isn’t all character
and plot, no soirée; it’s just as much an out and out action
extravaganza too. You’ll see some of the best-staged action sequences
in a long time, here – possibly some of the best jaw-dropping sequences
ever, in fact – and they’ll have you both hollering at the screen in
joy and clasping your clammy fists tightly. Bottom line: It’s a ride you can’t help but feel comfortable on. With J.J Abrams as it’s driver, Mission: Impossible 3
is the smoothest and most enjoyable jaunt in eons. It’s also one of the
best films of Tom Cruise’s career - runs circles around that over
bloated mess, War of the Worlds,
for a start – and speaking of which, he is a marvel in this, if you’re
not truly under his spell again by film’s end…. you’re related to the
Kidman’s. It’s common knowledge that Cruise likes to bring in a
different director each time for these films, but let’s throw that rule
out the window and hand this series over to Abrams, hey? Not only is he
the man to save Tom Cruise, movie star, but also he’s quite possibly
the man to get us back in the cinema. EXTRAS
Extras-wise,
there are a few good things on here, but nothing riveting. The
‘Making-Of’ is pretty standard – just a leisurely production diary that
has cast and crew talking about ‘where they are today’, the ‘Tom
Cruise’ tribute is a montage that’s been seen before (on other DVDs),
the deleted scenes we worth, well, deleting, and the trailers/TV spots
are pretty self-explanatory. Better though, are the abundance of
featurettes that fix on the different aspects of the film’s production
– be it the music, the visual effects or the IMF setting. I don’t know why, but I find it amusing to see that Cruise is doing
an audio commentary on the DVD. He doesn’t do a lot of them (in fact, I
don’t even know if the one he did on Jerry Maguire
would be considered a commentary because it was no more than him and
his co-stars sitting in comfy chairs watching the film… and giggling
now and then), and the one on here smells of a ‘gotta do something to
get back into people’s good books… so maybe I’ll contribute to the
DVD?’ situation. Not to say his commentary with director J.J Abrams is
a ripper, it really isn’t, but it is a refreshing change to hear Cruise
speaking [somewhat] honestly over the top of one of his films. The
commentary itself is a pretty standard affair – there’s no real insight
into how the film came together (and no mention of why the film lost so
many directors, and stars, before J.J came onboard), no speak of why
Cruise wanted to do a MI:3,
and no frank ‘I think we could’ve done this better’ statements – which
seems to humanize the filmmakers more when those moments do arise. No,
instead it’s just Cruise and Abrams sitting back, laughing, slapping
each other on the back and pointing out monotonous things like ‘this
scene was shot on a stage…. This scene was not’. Yeah, big wow.
Thankfully, Cruise does touch upon some of his older films like Top
Gun and Days of Thunder – and even briefly mentions Eyes Wide Shut
and Stanley Kubrick – but you’re lucky to hear the anecdotes, because
the two guys are usually talking over one another. Conclusion:
Movie 90% Extras: 70%
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