SYNOPSIS:
Super-spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from active duty
to trains new IMF agents. But he is called back into action
to confront the toughest villain he's ever faced - Owen Davian
(Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information
provider with no remorse and no conscience. Hunt assembles his
team - his old friend Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames), transportation
expert Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and background operative
Zhen (Maggie Q), to rescue one of his very own trainees, Lindsey
(Keri Russell) who was kidnapped while on a surveillance detail
of Davian. It soon becomes evident that Davian is well-protected,
well-connected, and downright malicious, forcing Hunt to extend
his journey back into the field in order to rescue his wife,
Julia (Michelle Monaghan), and uncover IMF double agents in
the process.
MOVIE
REVIEW :
After
numerous years in production limbo, the third instalment in
the most iconic series in today’s movie history, “M:I:3”
finally comes to life under the hands of J.J. Abrams, the
creator of “Alias” and “Lost”.
Perhaps
it’s the magical hands and brains of Abrams that helps
turn this movie into being more intricate and realistic as
compared to the previous two. Brian De Palma’s version
was a tad too detach from reality while John Woo’s take
was less brainy and populated by more doves than agents.
In
“M:I:3”, Ethan Hunt is longer just a secret agent
without a face or identity, he studies “traffic”
for a living and is deeply in love with a woman, on the way
to start a family while secretly harboring the secret of his
“agent” role in IMF. But the greatest payoff for
the audience perhaps is Hunt facing his most powerful nemesis
to date, Owen Davian. Davian played so nastily by Philip Seymour
Hoffman (“Capote”) is a joy to watch. Watch out
for the confrontation scene between Hunt and Davian on an
airplane. And you will realized why Hoffman deserved the best
actor award in the Academy.
Abrams
finally solved the case of the “missing” agents
because in “M:I:3”, it’s not just about
Hunt alone. He is accompanied by Zhen (Maggie Q), Declan (Jonathan
Rhyes Meyers), his apprentice Lindsey (Keri Russell) and Hunt’s
recurring buddy, Luther played by Ving Rhames.
If
you are still not impressed by the above list, add on Laurence
Fishburne and Billy Crudup.
Equally
exhilarating is the numerous action sequences that will lift
you out of your seat. How about a freefalling act in Shanghai
or a huge Davian’s escape sequence on the Chesapeake
Bay Bridge to whet your craving for action pieces?
Despite
Mr Cruise’s couch jumping habit and frequent insensitive
comments on behalf of his Scientology’s belief which
resulted Paramount from ending their collaboration with him,
“M:I:3” is definitely one of the best entertaining
action set piece in recent years.
At
the end, it not only marked Tom Cruise as an all-round performer
but also J.J. Abrams first successful foray into motion picture.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
There's a 2 disc version available which has far more special
features than the single disc version. However, if you do
not have a penchant for extras, then this version might be
a good fit for you.
Commentary by Director J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise - What
do you get if you put two very nice guys together? The very
nice J.J. Abrams and the very nice Tom Cruise has a lot of
very nice things to say about the production process, crew
and cast in this commentary track. Everything
just looks and sound nice.
The Making of the Mission- This 28 minutes making
of goes to show how far Hollywood is willing to do for the
sake of art. How about building a bridge from scratch or creating
a gigantic wall? In addition, you get to see an NG scene showing
Maggie Q crashing that "nice" car. The latter is
cute.
Deleted Scenes - Consisting of 5 short scenes without
J.J. Abrams' commentary, not really crucial to the whole plot
which is why it's left on the cutting floor. But the "Musgrave
cementery conversation" did shed some light between Crudup
and Russell's characters.
Generation Cruise - This is lifted from a
tribute shown at the 2005 MTV movie awards. Nothing spectacular,
just a 3 minutes montage consisting of scenes from past Cruise's
movies.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Crank
up your Dolby Digital surround system for best results is
what I recommend as this M:I:3 disc is going to blow up the
neighbourhood. The video transfer is clear and colours are
well-defined. Night shots are nicely done as well.
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review
by Linus Tee
|
