The third and possibly final Mission Impossible film starts off with a pretty
shocking torture scene with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt at the mercy of Owen Davian,
the film’s central villain who’s played with great, oily finesse by Philip
Seymour Hoffman. Davian wants to know where the Rabbit’s Foot is, or else he’ll
kill Ethan’s wife Julia (played with pure snow white wholesomeness by Michele
Monaghan). It’s a taunt, exciting scene, with Hoffman displaying the
ruthlessness of his character in a truly startling moment. And then director
J.J. Abrams abruptly pulls us out of this riveting scene to flash back to a
really sappy party at Ethan and Julie’s house, where they’re celebrating their
engagement.
I’m getting a little tired of the story-telling device used in many movies (and
even TV shows) where they show part of the ending first, and then flash back
to the beginning. In the hands of a master filmmaker, this plot device
would work very well, but when used in the standard popcorn summer movie (which
MI3 basically is) it’s just very lame. It kills what little suspense there is,
because--in this case--you know that Ethan and his better half will soon be
captured by the bad guys. It would have been cool for MI3 to have
started with the torture scene, and then continue on from that point. Dump the
sappy introduction scenes with the lovey-dovey wife (a character whose sole
purpose is to be used as bait by the villain, anyway) and just dive into the
story proper, filling in the background details as they go.
In any case, Ethan gets called away from his dweeb-filled haven of a party by
Musgrave, his boss at the Impossible Mission Force (played by Billy Crudup,
another fine, chameleon-like actor who manages to disappear into his roles).
Musgrave informs Ethan that Lindsey Farris (the heavenly Kerri Russell), an
agent whom Ethan trained, has been captured by Owen Davian. Although he’s
semi-retired, Ethan joins the rescue party--and winds up performing the entire
rescue all by himself. This is another thing that ticks me off about the Mission
Impossible films. The original TV series was about a special team--emphasis on
the word TEAM--of operatives who infiltrated the enemy using methods that were
often pretty subtle, yet ingenious. Out-thinking the enemy by using sleight of
hand, the IMF team would sometimes accomplish their goal without the bad guys even knowing
who they were.
But the big-screen remakes have basically turned into the Tom Cruise show, with
Cruise acting like an American James Bond with none of the class or elegant
style of 007. Ethan Hunt works with a team of operatives in MI3, but unlike the
original series, where the IMF operatives were all equals working towards a
common goal, the team of agents who work with Hunt are nothing more than a squad
of second bananas who toil to support their fearless leader while he carries out
the big plays all on his own. It’s enough to make me really miss Peter Graves
and his IMF cohorts--you know, the REAL Impossible Mission Team. Just about the
only decent thing in MI3 is Hoffman, who gives such a genuinely creepy
performance as Davian that he’s a pleasure to watch--so much so that I was
almost rooting for his character to win by the end of this film.
--SF
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