no clue movie review: Mission Impossible III

I haven't been the biggest fan of these movies. They are fun, but that's about it. I will say that I was very excited about JJ Abrams taking over the directing duties on this movie. I thought he would bring a very fresh take on the film, maybe a little more character oriented. I'm a big fan of his TV work like "LOST", "Alias", & even "Felicity" (season 1 at least). I was entertained, so let's start there.

The movie is a big non-stop roller coaster ride. It has twists, turns, and loop de loops. I mean it. There's so much action in fact, that you have a hard time looking away. But with saying that, it always starts to feel a little stale. So much action, so much noise and so many explosions that you know that you are watching a movie. I felt entertained, but not taken away to a new reality like I do with Abrams TV work. There are some nice scenes in the beginning with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) hanging out with family and friends celebrating his engagement. They reminded me of scenes from "Alias". I mean they even include Greg Grunberg who we say in all of Abrams TV shows. But that was another problem. I felt like I was watching a big screen "Alias" at times. "Felicity" star Keri Russell, plays a female agent reminding me of Sydney Bristow too. I felt like many of those action scenes had been done almost shot for shot but on a smaller scale. Maybe there are only so many ways that you can blow stuff up and put secret agents in trouble.

Acting was decent. I mean I don't think anyone did a bad job. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays one of the best villains in this series of movies. I loved his character. So bad ass. My only complaint was that I wanted to see more of his character. I felt like he was on screen for very short periods of time. Keri Russell, whom I mentioned, did a very good job kicking ass as a secret agent holding the keys to a conspiracy. The rest of the cast acquitted themselves nicely as well. Which brings me to mr. big movie star Tom Cruise. He was good, don't get me wrong. He struck me as very committed and it looked like he did many action scenes on his own, because they looked extremely believable and many close ups were shown. But I couldn't shake the idea that I was watching Tom Cruise the movie star and not Ethan Hunt. He's on screen in almost every scene and it was a bit distracting. I mean I realize it's his movie, but I can't help it. I think that some of his off screen antics contributed to my liking of this movie.

All being said and done, the movie looked great. There was tons of action and it was fun to watch. I like secret agent type stuff. But it was popcorn big studio blockbuster fun. Not transport me to another place fun. But it was FUN!

I recommend seeing this movie if you're in the mood for some fun over the top action. Otherwise, maybe you should wait for something else.

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Come back soon for more, until then I'll probably be at a movie....