Following on from Brian De Palma's first film and John Woo's second, J.J. Abrams takes the helm for his first feature film to bring us a third instalment of Ethan Hunt's IMF activities. MI:III is a very slick and stylish film with some tremendous action sequences; stunt director Vic Armstrong designed the stunts so that Tom Cruise could do them all, and he did! This only egged Philip Seymour Hoffman on to get involved too, and so the final showdown fight is actually Tom and PSH throwing each other through doors and windows. This all adds a certain amount of realism to the proceedings.
Tom is fine as usual as Ethan Hunt; more than anything else he is an action star, and for this he is just right. PSH is an unusual choice as a baddie, but his gravitas really works and gives his character Owen Davian much greater depth. I had to look up his character's name on IMDB, and that's perhaps a criticism of the film; you don't really feel that you bond with any of the characters. I mean, we know Ethan, but I don't feel that we get to know any of the other characters or know the justification for their actions.
However, MI:III is an action film first and foremost, and as such completely succeeds. Competently directed, well acted and some thumping action.
I really enjoyed this one. It's fun and loved the action. The direction from JJ was top notch.
ReplyDeleteI don't really rate Ghost Protocol, I'd rather watch this.
I haven't seen Ghost Protocol at all, could be a lovefilm addition. I really enjoyed MI III though.
DeleteIs this the one where he runs a lot? I can remember the plot of II and GP, but not I or III. I suppose that says a lot for the film! I can vaguely remember a few action pieces and a *lot* of running!
ReplyDeleteYeah there was a fair bit of running, but no more than I would expect from a Mission Impossible film I think. The first film had lots of crosses and double-crosses as far as I remember, and was hard to follow; II was all John Woo-ish and I haven't seen GP yet; I'll have to check it out though.
DeleteI was trying to find your email address here but couldn’t locate it. I literally browsed everywhere. Can you please contact me at: alyson[at]ftframes.com
ReplyDeleteIt is regarding a writing opportunity!
This is not a spam message by the way, although it might appear like it. Also if you could be kind, please remove this message once you have seen it so I don’t get emails by randomers.
Dear non-spammer Alyson. You didn't try very hard then did you?!
DeleteI just saw this again, and I think my criticism of not bonding with the characters was perhaps unfounded; I enjoyed it more this time.
ReplyDelete