Misson: Impossible III (2006)

After the qualitative dud that was John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II, it’s a wonder that Paramount was even willing to entertain the notion of a third installment. Then again, the sequel put up good numbers at the box office and Tom Cruise was still a force to be reckoned with on the big screen. With director J.J. Abrams bringing his knack for savvy intrigue to the table, the end result is a whirlwind of a film that grips you more than either of its predecessors.

No longer an active field agent, IMF member Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) spends his time training new agents while hiding his job and past from his fiancé. When one of his former pupils is captured, IMF calls on hunt to rescue her. When the mission fails, Hunt is dragged deeper down the rabbit hole and goes full-on active duty again. Hunt and his new team must find a way to prevent a ruthless arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) from acquiring a mysterious super weapon, sniff out a mole inside IMF, and keep Hunt’s wife out of danger.

Fans of the TV show Mission: Impossible have long complained about the film series and I am sure that any of those fans who saw M:I 3 did plenty of bellyaching. Perhaps Abrams drew from his work on Alias to form the foundation of the spy antics of this film. Gone is most of the long-winded exposition of how the plan is supposed to go down. In its place is a frantic pace and high-octane set pieces that grip you tight. Some fans of the series will find this approach refreshing while others may feel Abrams sold M:I out and emulates the secret agent mechanics of James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Jack Bauer. While the format does make this film harder to remember, I still found myself refreshed.

Abrams has been unafraid to take an unorthodox approach to his work on television and he is similarly unafraid to be unorthodox here. During what would normally be the key set piece of the film, in which Ethan Hunt breaks into a highly secure Chinese research center at the top of a dizzying skyscraper, the audience sees nothing. Rather than watch the frenzied smash-and-grab sequence, we wait outside with Hunt’s partners wondering what on earth is going on in there. Even the item he is grabbing, the Rabbit’s Foot, is never explained; it is simply something both our protagonist and antagonist want to get their hands on. It’s a total MacGuffin but the spy/thriller genre has always utilized that sort of plot device.

Because Hunt’s team members have been interchangeable over three films, the success or failure of M:I 2 and M:I 3 really lies with the villain. The first film introduced us to the determined and heroic Ethan Hunt, so emphasis on villain was minimal (and we didn’t know who the real villain was for much of the film). The villain in M:I 2 was a clichéd rouge agent. Mission: Impossible III features the most intense villain yet and Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves every word of praise he received for his performance. His character is so intelligent, resourceful, and vicious enough to make audiences feel that no one is safe. The level of ferocity that Hoffman injects into the film raises the stakes and helps make the break-neck pace feel warranted.

The plot itself may be forgettable but I walked away from this film marveling at how exciting it was. It boasts an excellent villain, slick directing, and a flurry of intense action sequences. In short, this is the kind of stuff we should expect from a spy flick. It’s not as convoluted as the original and not bogged down with the silly and intricate choreographed violence of M:I 2. It’s a fine cat-and-mouse game and stands, in my mind, as the best of the three M:I films thus far. It is also easily the most underrated film in the series. If M:I 2 turned you off to the series, do yourself a favor and check this one out. Chances are you won’t be disappointed.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Made of Honor (2008)

I have not seen My Best Friend’s Wedding but I’m going to assume that there are some recycled and gender-reversed elements of that popular film at play in this 2008 rom-com. That being said, Made of Honor might actually be faring better than it ought to if it is something of a rehash. Aside from its strapping lead man, some witty dialog and a few amusing scenes, there isn’t a lot going for this mostly formulaic film.

After getting acquainted under amusing circumstances in college, Tom Bailey, Jr. (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) spend the next ten years as best friends. Tom designed the coffee collar and is loaded to the gills and keeps himself occupied as a serial dater when he’s not hanging out with Hannah as friends. Hannah strives for a more responsible life, working for a museum but still enjoys the companionship of Tom.

When business whisks Hannah away from the States for a while, Tom is bored and misses her. He comes to the realization that he has loved her all along and decides to ask her out when she returns. Unfortunately for him, Hannah returns to America with a wealthy Scottish fiancé and throws Tom for a loop by asking him to be her Maid of Honor. It’s a tightrope walk as Tom has to play nice with Hannah’s jealous bridesmaids while planning a wedding that he desperately wants to break up.

That pretty much tells you all you need to know, right? The concept of best friends realizing they love each other has been played out enough times that it barely fazes you anymore. The filmmakers dress it up with the amusing idea of having the bride-to-be select a man as her Maid of Honor. It may work for women who have experience in the cutthroat realm of being a bridesmaid but it seems like a silly construct to me. If he’s her best friend, wouldn’t it be logical just to make him a groomsman?

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on this film. Having a man as the Maid of Honor could have been used for a crude, Frat Pack comedy featuring nothing but trashy humor and vulgarity. The romantic aspect of the film holds it back from becoming sophomoric but it doesn’t help it avoid the general silliness that most chick flicks fall victim to. But those are the trappings that bring women into the theaters and until that changes, we will continue to have run of the mill films like this.

Of all the actors who are doing romantic comedies these days, Patrick Dempsey is among the easiest to watch. Perhaps it’s because he’s on a primetime soap/drama (Grey’s Anatomy), where he plays a similar charming and loveable sort of guy. He hasn’t done any action movies and even his moonlighting in the horror genre (Scream 3) he was a sympathetic kind of role. Given his resume, there’s not much in the way of preconceived notions about what films he should be doing and none of his roles have been iconic to the point where you have a hard time thinking of him as any other character. He also usually does a pretty good job with his characters, so I can’t hold it against him for sticking with what works.

There are a few nice location shots with some beautiful scenery but that’s not enough to make up for Made of Honor's predictability. That won’t bother the target audience of the film though. Women love this stuff and, seeing as I am not a woman, I do not. If you’re in the mood for silly, romantic escapism, you could certainly do a lot worse.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5