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), background operative Zhen (Maggie Q), and fresh recruit Lindsey (Keri Russell) - to travel the globe pursuing Davian and rescue Hunt's love, Julia (Michelle Monaghan).

Despite everything the movie and series had and has going for it they still somehow manage to push people away from the films which just amazes me. The first one which was entertaining and fun gave a good name to the series then came the sequel that was an utter piece of garbage. Why was it such garbage because almost every scene in it was so far from realistic that even though the movie is named Mission Impossible it became almost impossible to suspend disbelief after one scene after another where everything that is happening on the screen defies the laws of physics. Action movies don’t always need to follow the laws but it helps when on occasion when they do as it adds a sense of realism in an otherwise completely unrealistic set of events. My favorite part of Mission Impossible III was when Ethan Hunt is trying to calculate whether he can swing from rooftop to rooftop and he jaunts down a little algebra on the blackboard. This is the way I imagine these super secret spies, they are action heroes who also have a fair knowledge of physics and math and use this knowledge to accomplish the impossible. That’s what I liked about the movie, it returned to its roots and is more bound in realism than say an unrealistic car chase followed by an unrealistic fight followed by some other unrealistic event which was the basis of Mission Impossible II.

I am hearing best Mission Impossible movie and I am finding it hard to argue. Brought to us by J.J. Abrams who has made a name for himself in spy thrillers like the TV show Alias he brings back a sense of cool to the Mission Impossible series. The action sequences while highly unlikely could still be plausible and the movie is filled with drama to enhance the action that is coming at you fast and hard. But hey it’s Mission Impossible and that means action and lots of it. The movie is filled with its car chases, its explosions, its fight sequences and its fair share of gun shootouts and that’s why we like these movies. Who hasn’t wanted to do those kinds of things they are like bottled adrenaline, living a life none of us would ever imagine and doing the impossible. The movie is a fun action popcorn film that should entertain and leave you satisified.

II am betting some the producers are wishing that they could drug Tom Cruise and knock him out so he’s not out there acting like and idiot and a lunatic. Tom Cruise to me had redeemed himself with three straight movies that were great but then the old Tom Cruise the Tom Cruise who is easy to hate and want to see befall tragedy returned first with a massive dissapointment in War of the Worlds then with antics right out of a sci-fi novel. Tom Cruise is an idiot and casting him will always leave a negative impression on your film but he is very well suited for the role of Ethan Hunt. It’s not hard to think of him as Ethan and he has already accomplished this role with the first film in the series so again he works well as the super spy despite his lunacy which in the end will only hurt the movies grosses and not how good it was. The movie gets a real actor this time though in Philip Seymour Hoffman one of my favorite actors in all of Hollywood and the main reason I wanted to see this movie and he doesn’t let you down for one moment. Faced with death he calmly makes a promise to torture and kill Ethan that you believe him entirely capable of despite the circumstaces the threat are made under. Hoffman makes the movie as he plays the perfect villain, the evil doer you love to hate. I liked the movie more than I probably should have and you will too.

Grade: B+