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'M:I III' the roller-coaster ride fans are expecting
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images and some sensuality;
Cruise, mind you, seems to be winning more "tired of hearing about that celebrity" polls than any media magnet since Paris Hilton. His bad press, as well as his peculiar behavior on a 2005 "Oprah" episode, could mute the returns for "M:I III" just a little. But don't bank on it. There's something to be said for being famous for being famous.
Still, more than a few moviegoers will get a kick out of a scene midway through the picture wherein special agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) plots the capture of heinous arch villain Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) by disguising himself as Davian.
For about five minutes, then, Cruise disappears from the picture while the superior introspective actor Hoffman, a recent Oscar winner for "Capote," plays opposite himself in a dual role -- as Davian and as the disguised Hunt.
Hey, airlines and hotels offer upgrades. Why not movies?
Hoffman, it turns out, is the best reason to see "M:I III," although the screenplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and director J.J. Abrams addresses the particulars of the character minimally. Hoffman projects a metallic coldness that works in adversarial terms.
Hunt's mission, and he chooses to accept it, is to rescue self-trained protege Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) from Davian, an arms dealer who sells to Arab terrorists and North Koreans who has taken Farris prisoner.
Much of the picture is staged as a flashback, with Hunt trying to navigate his nuptials with fiancee Julia (Michelle Monaghan) between rescues, escapes, shootouts, sound blasts, quick cutting and quite a lot of running.
There are other special agents in the film, including Luther (Ving Rhames), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Zhen (Maggie Q), as well as supervisor Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne), but unlike the TV series, where several performers of equal stature took the leads on different missions, the film series is almost exclusively about Cruise's adventures as Hunt.
The picture has what Alfred Hitchcock dubbed a MacGuffin -- something that sets the plot in motion but that has little importance in and of itself, like the bottles of uranium in "Notorious."
In "M:I III," something called a rabbit's foot, which Davian means to sell, triggers most of the plot, but in the end is all but tossed off.
Much of the action is impersonal. It's not about faces and feelings but about size and motion -- images without clear context. But, yeah, it pays off to the degree required of so-called roller coaster rides.
And, yeah, "Mission: Impossible IV" already looks foregone.
Money is their mission
Why a third installment in the "Mission: Impossible" movie franchise? After all, the fuse on the popular 1966 TV series burned out in 1973, and a retooled version lasted only from 1988-90.
The film series has clicked big time, though, thanks undeniably to having superstar Tom Cruise in the central role of special agent Ethan Hunt. Plus untold millions of dollars invested in computer-generated special effects and stunts.
Brian De Palma directed the 1996 "Mission: Impossible," which grossed $456.5 million worldwide, $181 million of it in North America.
John Woo's "Mission: Impossible II," in 2000, grossed $545.9 million worldwide, $215.4 million of it being chipped in by North American moviegoers. And that despite the fact that the second generally was less liked than the first.
But ticket prices keep escalating, and blockbusters are released with more prints each year so film companies can cash in as much as possible on all of their advertising and hype during the first two weeks when most of the box-office revenue goes back to the studio.
Oh -- and that cool billion grossed by the first two pictures? It doesn't include the even bigger, but undisclosed, revenue from videos and DVDs, cable and network TV showings, much less profits from anything such as T-shirts and lunch boxes.
