mission impossible III Photo

Mission: Impossible III

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan, Keri Russell

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

RS: 3of 4 Stars

Now that Mi3 is out on DVD, maybe we can see it as a movie instead of just another way to rag on star Tom Cruise. Paramount, his studio for fourteen years, used his couch-jumping and Scientology-spouting to end their relationship. Even worse, Mi3 limped in at the box office with a tepid $133 million. For those who avoided the third chapter in the franchise, the movie will come as a shock. It's quite good, as senseless action flicks go, and a tribute to the talents of TV boy J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost), getting his first shot at directing a feature. When I say that Abrams fleshes out the action with character, don't expect Dickens. This is a mechanism built on the principle of the unbroken rush. Cruise is back as secret agent Ethan Hunt, Michelle Monaghan plays the girl he wants to marry, and Capote Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers so much deliciously vile fun as the villain of the piece you'll wish there were more of him.

Hot Extra: The two-disc collectors' edition is loaded, but not all the extras are prime. The unnecessary deleted scenes should have been deleted. And a clip tribute to Cruise's film work (he seems to be always running, shouting or posing) unleashes his ego, not his talent. But the audio commentary from Cruise and Abrams is fun and informative, and the inside dope on how the terrific stunts were done really delivers the goods.