This instalment, the third movie, in the Mission Impossible series is better than Mission Impossible II although it has to be said that this is not that difficult as far as I am concerned. The movie is more balanced in pace and the stunts and action scenes are not so totally over the top and ludicrous as in the second half of Mission Impossible II. Having said that there are still lots of pretty outrageous action stunts. This movie also has a real bad-ass villain that would not have been out of place in a classical James Bond movie.

The plot is as uninspired as one can expect from a Hollywood action movie. Hero crosses bad guys path and acquires something that the bad guy wants. Bad guy gets pissed off and grabs good guys wife to force him to get the stuff the bad guy wants. Big show-down at the end and bad guy bites the dust. Throw in a traitor in the mix just to mess things up at regular intervals. Nothing to write home about in other words.

The entertainment value of this film, as of the two previous ones, comes entirely from the various, more or less contrived, stunts, tricks and action sequences in the movie. As one can assume from the movies budget the film delivers well in these areas.

What I find annoying is that Ethan, again, finds himself alone and without support from the IMF team as well as having to deal with a traitor within. I find that kind of stuff tiresome to say the least. While I am in ranting mode I can also say that the silly idea of “dying” and then getting kick-started again, especially given that the time between “dying” and being kick-started again suffered from the usual lack of the concept of actual time elapsed so often being shown by Hollywood directors, was pretty silly.

As I wrote, it is a decent enough action movie but I would really like to see a “true” Mission Impossible movie where the team gets a mission and executes it with the full force of IMF behind them.

I would say it is the strongest entry of the first three Mission: Impossible films (the only ones I've seen to date). Even a decade later, it's strengths are still that which the franchise has always been known for, and its weakness are much the same. Much more akin plot-wise to the first film, _M:I:III_ has the one advantage over its predecessors that it's villain is much stronger than any we have seen before. Though arguably not the primary antagonist, Seymour-Hoffman (RIP) is actually pretty terrifying as international arms dealer, Owen Davian.

That said, while this third entry is certainly the most engaging thus far, it still had me checking my watch before the end of the movie, so I can hardly give it a glowing review.

_Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._

Despite the introduction of the always annoying Simon Pegg, this is an huge improvement on the last instalment. It sees the now retired, loved-up "Ethan" (Tom Cruise) coaxed out of retirement to deal with the menacing arms dealer "Davian" (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has just bumped off one of the IMF's finest as he tries to offload the devilishly toxic "rabbit's foot" - a weapon with devastating potential. The initial part of the operation goes smoothly enough, but when his prey escapes his clutches, "Ethan" soon realises that he is going to be used to obtain the weapon - else his girlfriend "Julia" (Michelle Monaghan) is going to be toast. PSH is a super baddie here, very much in the less is more school of menace, but not afraid to get a bit brutal when called for. The story itself is all pretty routine, there isn't much jeopardy throughout, but the action scenes are more natural and less choreographed than last time out, and PSH also does add quite a lot of extra gravitas to the proceedings. It also features one of the more assured performance from the usually wooden as a tree Jonathan Rhys Meyers with Ving Rhames having a more substantial, and quite entertaining, role too. I'm not sure what anyone can really do about the inevitability of the conclusion - we just know these films are going to keep on coming, but this one from the established writing team of Kurtzman and Orci keeps moving well with plenty of gadgets, body morphing and action to pass the two hour mark comfortably.

**Mission: Impossible 3 gives the franchise something more than explosions and cool gadgets. It gives the series heart and family.**

Mission: Impossible 3 carried the heavy burden of trying to ground the fantastical world of Mission Impossible with its insane stunts and extraordinary gadgets after the franchise took it all a little too far in MI2. JJ Abrams took the reins, simplified the plot to Ethan Hunt’s struggle to rescue his fiancée, and filled the cast with excellent talents like Michelle Monaghan, Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg, and more. While the stunts and gadgets that define the franchise were still in the film, they were not the focus. Instead, MI3 concentrated on developing Hunt’s character and his struggle to protect his loved ones from his work. This movie frequently finds itself at the bottom of the Mission: Impossible rankings, but I think it’s one of the best in the series and gave the franchise the heart and direction it needed to become the box office behemoth it is today.