MISSION STATEMENT  Review by Scott Weitz Rating: May 4, 2006 Director: J.J. Abrams Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams Studio: Paramount Pictures Cast: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Laurence Fishburne Running Time:  2 hours 6 minutes Rated: PG-13 Official Website Watch the trailers

Smarter.  Smaller.  Meaner.  Better.

The smarter is the script.  The smaller is the story.  The meaner is the villain.  The better is the result of all three refreshing facets in this latest mission.

MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE 3 heralds the summer movie season with a tense opening salvo of explosive action and unabashed villainy that's both more serious and successful than its predecessors in the franchise.

Director J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost) has graduated into feature films, and simultaneously elevated the stakes for Tom Cruise and his IMF team of agents, if not straining to lift the emotional content of this M:I entry too.  Abrams TV resume made him a welcome addition to helm the latest slam-bang spy thriller, even if his directorial approach provides significant strengths and some annoying habits to the film.

First, the plus side: Abrams, along with his co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, imbue the story and script with a sharp, highly lethal edge that was lacking in the first two Missions.  The opening scene jolts audiences into the harsh, brutal reality of this 3rd-world, which actually puts IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in a truly impossible situation.  The word does not imply implausible or unrealistic, but instead is used (finally!) in its correct context: a life-or-death moment of action in which Hunt has lost all power to control. Weapons of wit, cunning, fury and intense staring prove utterly useless to Cruise's alter-ego this time.  Shortly after this moment of personal trauma, events will only go from bad to worse for our hero in a way never attempted in previous installments, and it's a welcome, refreshing change of impossible pace.

The movie tagline — This time it's personal — has become a promotional punchline in film marketing, yet this hackneyed catchphrase quickly proves the saving grace of M:I:3.  Publicity tells the tale that when Cruise approached Abrams to direct the film, Abrams accepted on the premise that this installment would dig deeper into Ethan Hunt as a person, not just skim the surface of his persona.  That mission is accomplished, to the extent that the heightened, virtual reality of the IMF world will allow Hunt to be explored and exposed.  Let's face it, M:I:3 will never be mistaken for Merchant-Ivory's A Room With An Impossible View or some such probing British character drama.  But Abrams and Cruise together certainly move their mark much closer to a human drama than prior attempts.

While the IMF world map plays out as broadly and scenically as before, the story sticks forcefully and stubbornly to the crux of the matter:  Ethan Hunt must save his wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan who adeptly carries the emotional burden), from certain death at the hands of the viciously unrelenting villain, Owen Davian (played to chilling, if inhuman, effect by Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman).  There is a minor subplot woven into this live-wire current of danger — the chasing and obtaining of a mysterious Rabbit's Foot device — but even this McGuffin takes a distant, refreshing backseat to the core issue of Ethan and Julia's imminent demise.

Perhaps because the story remains focused on such a small, personal field of dramatic interest, it either is or seems deeper, more meaningful than other Missions.   Abrams refuses to let his audience bask like cinema tourists at the ornate majesty of Vatican City, or indulge in the eastern appeal of Shanghai.  Such sights are reduced to blurred backdrops for Hunt and his team as they race from one of the film to the other, plotting, improvising and shooting their way toward a must-win solution to this impossible dilemma.  The story stays centered, for better and occasionally worse, on Cruise and the increasingly short life expectancy of Hunt's new bride. 

The good news for fans of the original MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE television series by Bruce Geller is that we finally witness an actual IMF team in action; not the splintered array of thinly drawn victims obliterated at the onset of Brian DePalma's 1996 film, and not the loosely bunched (and written) supporting props surrounding Hunt in John Woo's 2000 entry.

Hunt reunites with his techno-pal Luther Stickell (the still underutilized Ving Rhames, who nevertheless is the only other character to span all three films), along with new-to-us agents Declan (utility player Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Zhen Lei (alluring Maggie Q), and under-drawn but ever-funny Benji Dunn (scene-stealer Simon Pegg).   While all three characters never really get a chance to develop much as individuals, mainly because the film's narrow focus prohibits such luxury, their team ethic is demonstrated repeatedly: unwavering loyalty.  You may not get to know them well, but you appreciate their devotion to sticking together — against official protocol, if need be — to see their mission with Hunt through to success.  At last, a big-screen IMF team worthy of the name and the tradition so smartly spawned three decades ago on the small screen.

Hunt's team works together efficiently, each to his or her own talents and skills, and their results in action succeed well beyond the traitorous back-stabbers populating the celluloid stage in the prior two films.  Luther demonstrates his evolving computer skills, but this time by staging his own one-man armada of steroid-enhanced machine guns via laptop control.  The moment could have devolved into video game silliness, but the precision with which Luther remotely mows down the team's opponents quickly kills any laugh tickling your throat. Likewise Declan, the transport and disguise op, gets his team in and out of tight jams and back rooms with slick speed.  Zhen proves as lethal in a revealing gown as she is kicking the hell out of baddies in her way.  Finally, thankfully, this IMF team is greater than the sum of their parts, and they devoutly stay a team throughout.

The impossible threat the team faces is the better news for the audience: finally the M:I franchise has a solid, scary villain who more than proves himself a match for Ethan Hunt.  Indeed, this terribly un-glamorous antagonist proves from the opening frames that he has been and remains several steps ahead of Hunt and the IMF in his evil doings.  Philip Seymour Hoffman, fresh off his claim of an Academy Award for Capote, drives M:I:3 forward into the series' darkest abyss like a mad, murderous steam engine hellbent for disaster.

As Owen Davian, shady and soul-devoid dealer of destruction around the globe, Hoffman plays the new baddie with a chilling amount of uber-control, both in character and in deeds.  Ethan Hunt and the entire IMF organization are little more than an amusing annoyance to his ruthless means, as proven by how quickly Davian swats down Hunt's protoge, rookie field operative Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell).  Yet his capture of Farris is just a sick calling-card of what inhuman depths Davian is willing and most able to sink to get his brutal, bloody way with the world.

Owen Davian not only has a higher purpose and a more sinister agenda, but he cunningly uses the IMF team and mission against him to further his terrorist cause.  As noted before, the film opens with Ethan Hunt literally helpless to control his dire situation, gleefully held in captive inaction while Davian has his way with Ethan and Julia.  This plot dynamic, spending most of the film with Hunt blasting and bleeding to cross the finish line before his wife dies, smartly and pleasingly turns the M:I franchise on its dramatic ear, while turning the tables on Cruise's character who has always been a tad too smart and superior for the films' own good.  Just milliseconds after the brief opening credits disappear, Hoffman puts a violent end to that cinematic winning streak for Ethan Hunt, and does so with gusto!

The film then retells how Hunt got himself and his bride into this deadly nightmare — a rather intelligent plot device that ensures the audience can never get too comfortable with Ethan's ensuing heroics, because we always know that every successful step he takes only returns him one step closer to the impossible choice where we first left him.   This time, Hunt's mission is one of personal and professional desperation, and all along we know he hasn't beaten the odds up to the moment of murderous truth.  Thus Abrams holds his audience in the same lack of control over outguessing his story as is Ethan powerless to avoid playing into Davian's bloodstained hands.

If MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE 3 succeeds this summer, and I expect it will despite the inane media circus over crazy couch-jumping and Scientological silent birth, at least half the credit deservedly will fall into the lap of Philip Seymour Hoffman who growls and grunts fresh air into the franchise with his coldblooded, hot-tempered villain.  The franchise always hamstrung itself by never allowing Hunt to meet his match, but Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman certainly foiled both Ethan's and the audience's expectations with a ruthless killer played by a lethally-talented actor. 

Despite these strengths, the film doesn't lack flaws which keep it from rising that last bit to reach its full potential.  As noted above, Abrams has graduated to feature film directing with a solid first outing, but he really needs to adjust his shooting style accordingly to the medium and format.  In many scenes, the cinematography choices resemble a mega-budget episode of Alias, and overall the film has about 20% more hand-held close up than it needs or deserves.  A third into the film, a slight sense of seasickness develops with Abrams lens and angle choices (as viewed on the super-wide screen at the Mann's Chinese), so opting for a middle-to-back seat for optimal viewing is a smart play.  One would anticipate close up-itis given Abrams' TV resume and the tighter, personal scale of the story, but he does need to let his characters, his locations and his audience step back more often and breathe the way only widescreen cinema allows.  No doubt he'll have plenty of future feature opportunities to adapt and adjust his style.

Also, despite the intelligent and welcome change-up from the inter-IMF treason and treachery displayed in M:I 1 and 2, Abrams' 3rd still falls short of the tight-knit teamwork which was the clever, character-driven hallmark of the TV series.  Granted it's a valuable attempt which makes M:I:3 stronger and more satisfying in both franchise and moviegoing terms.   But such a pyrotechnic roller coaster run on the track of summer movie entertainment can't fly high and remain solidly grounded at the same time; that's truly a mission impossible for such seasonal fare where a hero-centric story is demanded.  By design this story centers on Cruise's personal crisis, and he enacts it with less attitude and more emotion than before.  But Hunt is still bound to fuel the film's progress himself by convention in a way the TV series equally avoided by its own medium.  Had Abrams and Cruise turned M:I:3 into a true ensemble character piece, the franchise would have self-destructed in five seconds to be sure!

We're simply not going to get the MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE of old, too much of the world has changed around it since, and the premise is simply not compatible with big budget Hollywood films from May to July.  Paramount needs to satisfy both requests by releasing the classic TV series on DVD already, and give everyone what they want!

Still, kudos to Abrams, the writers and Cruise for wanting to re-inject the fun and art of MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE-classic espionage back into the film series, a key element that has been lacking in the franchise since its inception.  Team M:I:3 didn't hit a home run in this regard, but it's a lead-off double at least, and a highly welcome hit here in the third inning!

While Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup service their characters well, their functions as IMF commanders and roles in the plot's mystery are in one way or another predictable, ending in a race to see which character is who we think he is.  While it's fun to see a little more into the inner workings of the IMF headquarters, the organization tends to run a little too much like a corporate board room more concerned with inside politics than international policy. 

Still, it's good to see Fishburne back in better form and freed from the horrible purgatory that became the last two installments of the Matrix trilogy.  His Theordore Brassell is predicably gruff, and should the franchise continue, he might develop into a suitable replacement for the late Jim Phelps.   Only time and box office receipts will tell if he ever gets a chance.

As expected and delivered, the stunts and pyrotechnic effects are eye-popping and enjoyable, while kept in control enough to serve the story rather than overwhelm it.  Credit to action legend Vic Armstrong for his second unit direction of these high-octane sequences and integration of them into the heart of the drama, instead of a substitute for it.  Cheers as well to the visual and makeup effects crews, who add impact and intrigue to give this mission a basis of reality while providing the summer flick the requisite oohs and aahs.  The two arts combine very cleverly in a sequence involving Ethan Hunt disguising himself in the Rome operation, which truly uses the Impossible Mission potential of computer and makeup effects in a seamless bit of movie magic.

Since the M:I:3 soundtrack was playing for a good hour-plus before the L.A. premiere actually got under way, I got a good listen to Michael Giacchino's score.  I am quickly growing to like his versatility and powerful style, as evident in The Incredibles and more so in M:I:3.  He hasn't topped the likes of sorely-missed Michael Kamen yet, but Giacchino is rapidly making his mark on film soundtracks, consistently adding extra impact and resonance as good cinema scores should and rarely do.  Less kitschy than Danny Elfman's M:I:1 opus, and much less mystical than Hans Zimmer's Zamfir-esque M:I:2 effort, Giacchino elevates the musical stakes in concert with the film's darker, more mature tone to a very satisfying experience.

MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE 3 easily takes its rightful place at the forefront of the series, and should follow if not surpass its progenitors in box office totals.  Philip Seymour Hoffman's work, plus a darker and more menacing script which actually requires some personal-scale acting by Cruise, elevate M:I:3 to the next level, and with some luck over the expectations of fans and critics who have rightfully come to expect so little from summer blockbusters.  Fans may only wish that it hadn't taken ten years and three films for the franchise to reach this stage of storytelling success.  Ultimately how far MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE 3 goes this season rests on how invigorating or vapid are the summer's films which must now trail in its action-packed wake.

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