Mission Impossible III

So I went to go see this by myself since I know no one and am a loser (and decided to see it at 10:20 at night on a Sunday on the spur of the moment). I had read that JJ Abrams, who created Alias, which I really liked for the first two seasons, was directing, and that he wanted to recapture some of the “team” feeling that made the original TV show so fun.

I was on the lookout for that especially and have to say that although the entire movie has three major “caper” sequences where teamwork plays an integral role, and although the whole thing is action packed with stunts that are more realistic and exciting than what was in M:I2, the main problem that afflicted everyone in the movie was the complete lack of any character development.

After two installments it was inevitable that a change from the “meet the hot chick on the job” formula was needed, and I applaud the time that was devoted to creating a believable relationship between Tom Cruise and the extremely hot Michelle Monaghan (who I just saw in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which was really underrated) who plays his wife, the problem is that even their relationship felt under-developed. They just trotted out one domestic scene (albeit a long one) and that’s supposed to provide an immediate and exhaustive reason to care about the new hottie. Didn’t quite work.

And don’t get me started on the “team” that Ethan Hunt gets to work with the entire movie. Sure, they work together great and all the breaking and entering stuff is cool, but what were their names? What was their backstory? Where was the “working with the new team” tension or hidden pasts that came into play or any of that? It was a letdown.

Even Phillip Hoffman, who is a great actor, was restricted to just being a one-dimensional bad guy. He pulls it off, and it’s rewarding to see a villain executed so subtly for a change, but there really could have been something there for the audience to fixate on and really serve as a foil for Cruise’s character, and instead there’s nothing. Here’s something that sums up the entire thing well: when the bad guy finally gets it, you don’t even see it. It all happens off screen.

My summary: great action, interesting plot idea, but too poor character development to really break through into positive territory.