Mission: Impossible 3

It's here! The 2006 blockbuster season starts off with Tom Cruise and the mega-buck new sequel to the big screen version of the TV classic.

We start off with a loving couple who is ready to marry. The only problem is he is keeping something from her. You see, the man is none other than Ethan Hunt, who although still linked to the world of spionage is now working as a trainer of new recruits. However, days before the wedding Hunt is drafted for a flash mission when his brightest disciple Lindsey (Keri Russell) is captured while she was keeping tabs on the elusive Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Hunt then makes a new team which includes old acquaintance Luther (Ving Rhames), and newcomers Zhen (Maggie Q) and Declan (Jonathan Ryhs Meyers). The rescue mission is a bust but the team manages to get some intel that might lead them to the capture of Davian. A new mission is then carried out under the radar so that the severe head of IMF, Brassel (Lawrence Fishburne) is kept out of the loop. What follows is a story of betrayal, conspiracy and LOTS of incredible action sequences. But no matter what, Hunt knows he can count on his team.

Director J.J. Abrams does an excellent job with this new sequel, the first one that really feels like a version of the TV Series. The clue here is the team. The series was all about how the team handled these missions together. One of the biggest flaws that part 1 had was the annihilation of this team and later on the discovery that the hero had become the villain. Part 2 had virtually no team and was more centered in idolizing Tom Cruise who could rock-climb with his fingernais; this sequel was plagued with doves and acrobatics which looked great in director John Woo's previous movie Face/Off but which in MI2 were neverending and boring. In MI3 the team is always present, though a little more individualization of it's members would have been nice. This isn't a huge problem though.

Abrams, creator of a few little TV shows you might have heard of called Felicity, Alias and Lost, brings all of his Alias experience into the game and sort of merges it with Mission:Impossible (you can see traces of Alias, like the tech specialist that feels very similar to Marshall Finkman, or the way the movie is told, starting at a very critical point in the story and then telling everything as a flashback). The result is a fast-paced, interesting product which doesn't fall in the game of centering every little thing around Tom Cruise. Having a great actor like Hoffman as the ruthless villain is a great contribution to this.

My only dislike of MI3 is the terrible epilogue, which in the desire of having a happy ending sets a situation which feels forced and very sappy. But don't let this discourage you. This is an edge-of-your-seat action flick, a great way to start the summer.