Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and Keri Russel as Lindsey Ferris, star in Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible 3, © 2006.

James Bond, Ethan Hunt, and Carmen and Juni Cortez are a few names that come to mind when refering to a spy or a secret agent. A few things they all seem to possess are cool gadgets years ahead of their time, fighting skills equal to those who have even trained their entire life, and the low profile.

The low profile seems be the largest key factor, due to the fact that a villain could attack you personally or even a loved one. Whether you are Spider-man, a Jedi, or a secret agent, getting together with someone seems out of the question. Ethan Hunt of Mission: Impossible 3 feels he can manage this along with his constant work as a member of the Impossible Missions Force. I believe the main reason for this is that, for the most part, he has thrown in the towel and would rather just settle down. The plot is a tad hard to explain, so read carefully:

Rogue member of the IMF, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) decides it’s time to settle down with the love of his life, Julia (Michelle Monaghan) he met somewhere between movies. At their engagement party, Hunt receives a message and confronts a man from IMF, Declan ( Jonathan Rhys Meyers) at a 7-11, who gives him a secret message. When he reviews it back home, he learns that he must rescue a fellow operative, Lindsey Ferris( Kerri Russel), from the clutches of an extremely dangerous arms-dealer names Owen Davian (Capote, err… I mean Philip Seymour Hoffman, best actor winner of 2005).

Later, after a failed rescue attempt of Lindsey, Hunt learns Davian is selling something code named the “Rabbit’s foot” (supposedly something that could lead to worldwide destruction, but is never actually clarified) to someone who’s willing to pay hundreds of millions. In a desperate attempt to retrieve it before the IMF, Davian kidnaps Hunt’s wife and holds her hostage in exchange for the “Rabbit’s foot.” The situation has Hunt rushing to Rome and all over Shanghai along with an assembled team consisting of Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames, Ms. Kari (Bahar Soomekh) and John Musgrave (Billy Crudup).

I have not seen the other Mission: Impossible films, the original TV show, and in fact the only relation I have to it, is that I have the theme (composed by Lalo Schifrin) on my Ipod. I realize, I must sound like a die-hard fan. I found the film exceptionally entertaining, and actually a good way to start off this summer’s box of blockbusters.

First time film Director, J.J. Abrams gives us a lot of action, not plenty of substance, but a solid enough plot to be quite enjoyable to watch. I was expecting the action and I was pleasantly pleased with the hyped stunts and maneuvers that make this trilogy so famed among action lovers (and Tom Cruise lovers). Abrams’ largest project was probably Michael Bay’s Armageddonin which he wrote the screenplay, which was actually what I thought to be one of the strongest features of the film.

Abrams co-wrote the film with Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci. Both Kurtzman and Orci worked on the mediocre The Island (also directed by Michael Bay) and the disappointing Legend of Zorro. Perhaps, I can’t be sure because a trio wrote the film, but perhaps Kurtzman and Orci are the reasons why this film’s screenplay wasn’t as completely solid as it could have been.

I will admit the writing was harmless enough, but there were a few lines that I was particulary satisfied with, one of which delivered by the head of IMF, John Brassel (Laurence Fishburne), “I will bleed on the flag just to make sure those stripes stay red.” Comic relief was also noticeably present in the film, spoken by Ving Rhames’ character, as well as the Shaun of The Dead star, Simon Pegg. His character (Pegg’s) functions as Hunt’s inside man of IMF, like Edgar (Louis Lombardi) is to Keither Sutherland on 24. I also enjoyed the consistent disguises worn by Cruise, one of which was particularly funny as he wore a latex Davian mask.

The story jumps around a lot, as confusing as it already is, there are members at IMF who you can’t be completely sure of who’s side they are on which adds a dramatic height to the flow of the film. As smooth as the choppy story moved, I was surprised at quite a few plot points.

The cinematography by Dan Mindel, is completely different from his last work on the film Domino, which his work on that I was very displeased with. In Mission: Impossible 3, he keeps things sharp, but smooth, at the fast pace that he tracks with. He also uses a variety of angles and shots that help you feel as part of the action, and the mood of the scene is expressed in style that makes your heart pound and has the popcorn disappearing.

I’m sick of the Tom Cruise publicity, but hilariously it was around this time that I published my review of War of The Worlds when all his events began to flight last year. With the forceful and sometimes false word of the media, one occasionally forgets that Tom is great actor. He appears to be as happy with his on-screen fiancé as you can see him in pictures with his wife Katie Holmes and as serious and powerful he can be in real life. Now that I think about it, Ethan Hunt is probably one of his most well played characters, because it seems he must really understand what makes the character tick, which is unbelievably important when preparing your character.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character is really a dark villain. Winning best actor for Capote, himself depicting the role of the genius writer, probably set him as one of the top picks for the role of Davian. Though his character is somewhat underwritten, he takes the little dialogue his given and makes it seem absolutely deadly. He definitely deserved more screen time and more dialogue to better establish his character.

Mission: Impossible 3, for the most part, has it’s act straight, and the film stands solidly, a few of the elements of the film could have been managed much better, especially the writing, but otherwise for Abram’s first film, Mission: Not Bad.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images and some sensuality.

Running time 126 minutes.