Mission Impossible 3 (PG-13)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing Mission Impossible III
, the first of this spring/summer's blockerbusters. This installment of MI:3 finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) going after a ruthless criminal bent on global destruction - so pretty much your standard fare.
What did you think Mike?
Mike: I loved it. I think it's the best of the three. This movie is the definition of action packed.
What about you?
Scott: I think 'love' is a bit strong. I liked it. I still liked the first one more though. The second one was terrible so it's no surprise that it was better than that one. I think the first one had more intrigue and this one had more action.
Mike: Unlike apparently everyone else, I did not hate the second one. It was exactly what I expected out of a John Woo film, doves included.
Scott: It's funny, when you wrote that I saw doves flying out of my PC screen.
Mike: That is funny. You are a laugh riot.
Scott: The second one was so over-the-top it was ridiculous.
Mike: Don't tell me you go to these movies for a plot?
Scott: I liked the intrigue of the first movie. In MI:2 people just jumped around for no reason. This was a little more action than MI:1, but it actually had a plot, where as MI:2 had nothing.
Mike: This current movie was J.J. Abrams directorial debut and I think he will be asked to direct some more movies. Abrams is the man behind my favorite TV shows Lost and Alias. This movie played a bit like Alias with a very big budget.
Scott: Yes they traveled to Berlin, China and Shanghai, Australia and some place called Italy.
Mike: Was that Berlin, Italy or Berlin, China?
Scott: In the movie they spell out Berlin, Germany and Shanghai, China. Really, who wouldn't know these cities without the country attached?
Mike: All three of the writers, Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci and Abrams all write for Alias.
Even the music is done by Michael Giacchino, who scores both of the aforementioned shows.
Scott: There were a couple spots where I could hear a bit of Lost music in the scenes. I guess his scores have similar feels to them
Mike: Yep.
Scott: There was even some filming done in Richmond, VA for this movie.
Mike: Another reason to like this film. Unfortunately, those scenes are not obvious.
Scott: They were shot near 14th and Dock St. right near the Mayo Bridge. Thinking back to the movie, I couldn't say where they took place. It was supposed to be a car chase scene under a railroad crossing.
Mike: That doesn't narrow it down too much. There are a number of car chases.
Scott: I may have to bring the camera out there tomorrow and get some shots of the area for people to check out.
Mike: Oh please take some pictures of the street. Pretty please…
There are a crazy amount of stunts and special effects in this movie, but that is part of why I love it. There are a number of twists and a couple nods to the other two MI films. I like that they try to explain some of the things from the other movies. For instance, if you disguise yourself to look exactly like someone else, how do you take care of the voice?
Scott: That was neat, seeing where the voice came from, as was making the fake face. It made it look like it could be done in real life.
Mike: Exactly.
Scott: I thought Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played the bad guy Owen Davian, was an exceptionally good bad guy.
Mike: I liked the cast.
Scott: He gave me the creeps in several scenes.
Mike: Hoffman was a great choice. And he's riding high after his Oscar win.
It's also nice to have Ving Rhames back. His voice sounds very Marcellus Wallace in this picture.
Scott: I think Ving is the new Samuel L. Jackson. Good actor and still tough AND in good movies! The good movies part sets him apart
Mike: His choices in movies have been a bit better than Samuel's lately.
Scott: *cough* *cough* You can say that!
Mike: I admit that I am a big Tom Cruise fan and in this movie he is very Tom Cruise. I think he's best in action roles like this and in Top Gun and War of the Worlds.
Scott: I know you are a big fan, but did you have to jump on your seat and yell, 'I love this man!' ?
Mike: Sorry, I had an Oprah flashback.
Mike: I think it is funny that his leading lady looks a lot like his fiancée Katie Holmes.
Scott: For a sec, in one scene, I thought I saw her, in the background of the party in the beginning of the movie.
Mike: Katie, you mean?
Scott: Yes, Katie.
Mike: Cruise, like Sean Penn proves my rule that I can still like him in a movie even though he is a weirdo in real life.
Scott: Sometimes the person overwhelms the movie, it's happened before, people want to be entertained, not preached to.
Mike: Tom delivered exactly what people are going to expect.
Scott: He ages like Dick Clark, he looks the same as he did in the first Mission Impossible.
Mike: Hold on a minute buddy, Cruise is my age. You better not be making age cracks young man.
Scott: Not to your face, no.
You were talking about the rest of the cast. They were good, but you don't learn anything about them really, they are just a means to an end for the plot.
Tom's love interest in this movie is Julia (Michelle Monaghan). She did a pretty good job throughout the flick. Not too emotional, nothing over-the=top which is common in that role.
Mike: I wondered where they found her. Then I looked and realized I had just seen her recently in North Country as one of Charlize Theron's coworkers.
Scott: I remembered her from The Bourne Supremacy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Mike: There are also a couple cameos by Abram's regulars Greg Grunberg and Kerri Russel.
Scott: Grunberg and Abrams go WAY back, all the way to elementary school. I guess Abrams is a good friend to have.
Mike: Grunberg was a regular as Agent Weiss on Alias and he's the pilot who gets yanked out of the plane by the monster in the first episode of Lost.
Mike: Russel, of course, was Felicty, which was the first show Abram's created.
Scott: I never saw that show. I like Lost, that's all I really needed to know.
Mike: I never saw it either, but I guess that's the excuse for all the slow soap opera scenes sprinkled through out this film.
Scott: There was one scene in particular that was supposed to be intense and maybe heartbreaking, but ran about 10 seconds long and turned into a funny scene. I don't think they meant that scene to be funny though.
Mike: Yes, that would be my only real complaint about the movie.
Scott: Which is?
Mike: That… The slow scenes that go on a little long. I think they are supposed to add emotion, but I'm there for the action.
Scott: The action was pretty good. Some of the stunts were amazing. The technology used was pretty cool too.
Mike: Visually, I think this movie is like a theme park ride you are in no hurry to get off.
Scott: Towards the end of the movie, I guess there were about 10 minutes left or so, I felt like there was another half hour or so left. I just couldn't see the movie ending in any short amount of time. I wouldn't have minded if it went another half hour though.
Mike: I was looking forward to this movie to see Abrams' slant on the series and I was not disappointed.
Now I am really geeking for the recently announced Star Trek XI, which will be directed by Abrams.
Scott: So how do you rate this one?
Mike: You can probably guess, I give it a 4 for action/thriller and a 4 overall. I think this will make big bucks until the next blockbuster comes along. Probably The DaVinci Code.
And you?
Scott: I give it a 3.5 overall and a 4.5 for action. I think it lived up to my expectations. I think that it was almost the perfect action flick. I guess the only thing that wasn't in the movie was the corny one liners (I didn't miss them).
Mike: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to see this movie in the theater as soon as possible.
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