Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Premise: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns to the field to rescue a former student and crosses an arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who seeks an object known as “the rabbit’s foot.”
What Works: After Mission: Impossible 2 the series’ producers joined with Bad Robot, the production company cofounded by filmmaker J.J. Abrams. He assumed directing duties on Mission: Impossible III and made the film with his frequent collaborators, namely screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, composer Michael Giacchino, cinematographer Dan Mindel, and editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey. In much the same way that the first two films showcased the styles of Brian De Palma and John Woo, Mission: Impossible III is very much a J.J. Abrams production. It has the intense speed and mobile camera work characteristic of Abrams’ filmmaking but also the humor and humanity common to his movies. In that respect, Mission: Impossible III is something of a soft reboot for this series. It doesn’t overwrite the previous films but it does revise the tone and our understanding of the characters. Third chapters in ongoing movie franchises tend to define the tone and trajectory of the rest of the series. Mission: Impossible III pivots the series away from Ethan as the lone hero and toward making him the center of a team. It’s also a warmer film than either of its predecessors. Mission: Impossible III defines Ethan Hunt through his relationships to those closest to him, namely his wife (Michelle Monaghan). Their relationship is central to the film. It informs our understanding of Ethan’s character but it also personalizes the stakes. Mission: Impossible III also has one of the best villains of the series, the terrorist Owen Davian played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman plays the role with a cool malevolence. Mission: Impossible III was the first film in this series to be produced after the September 11th attack but also after the War on Terror had run aground of the moral scandals of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons. This film reflects some of that in the way Ethan Hunt faces the moral complexity of fighting terrorism.
What Doesn’t: The resolution of Mission: Impossible III is underwhelming. The conflict between Ethan Hunt and Owen Davian comes to a rather unsatisfying conclusion. The ending isn’t big enough for the mayhem that Davian has caused or the personal and malicious nature of the conflict. The story also introduces ideas about the moral hazards of fighting terrorism but the movie doesn’t do anything interesting with those ideas. The filmmakers are content to fall back on a safe moral binary instead of pushing the series somewhere more challenging or complex.
Disc extras: The Blu-ray includes a commentary track, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, TV spots, and an image gallery.
Bottom Line: Mission: Impossible III is the decisive entry in the franchise, setting it on a path that largely determined the style and pitch of the rest of the series. It’s also a very satisfying sequel that turns up the conflicts and brings the characters and their relationships to a new level. This is one of the best entries in the Mission: Impossible series.
Episode: #97 (May 21, 2006); Revised #1049 (May 25, 2025)