Since its introduction in 1996, the Mission: Impossible film franchise has taken many forms, as the director of each individual installment has offered his own unique spin on the classic 60s TV series that inspired it. The original director, Brian De Palma, gave us a complex and confusing plot mixed in with some impressive action sequences. Asian filmmaker John Woo took control of Mission: Impossible II in 2000, simplified the plot, and threw in a lot of slow mo and overly stylized action sequences. Now here we have Mission: Impossible III, under the guidance of TV series creator turned filmmaker J.J. Abrams (of Lost and Alias fame). What Abrams brings to the series is a frantic and almost chaotic thrill ride that seems to rely too heavily on the thrills and not enough on common sense. The film is a loud, barely coherent roller coaster ride of a movie that, while entertaining enough while you're watching it, just doesn't stick with you the second you walk out of the theater. Will this movie have what it takes to bring Tom Cruise back to action hero leading man status after a year full of negative publicity and disastrous public appearances? Only time and the film's opening weekend box office will tell. All I know is that for my money, Mission: Impossible III is a bit too slight for its own good.

As the film opens, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has finally met the right woman in the form of a sweet nurse named Julia (Michelle Monaghan), and is seriously considering leaving his days as a super spy behind him and finally settling down. He's called back into action when one of his former students in the agency, Lindsey Feris (Keri Russell), is kidnaped while investigating a ruthless arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The ultimate outcome of the rescue mission makes Hunt realize that Davian is a madman that must be stopped. The mission will take him to various exotic locales around the world, and will ultimately uncover Davian's true purpose - to locate a top secret weapon known only as the "Rabbit's Foot". The mission turns personal when the mad arms dealer turns the tables on Hunt, and uses threats and blackmail in order to force Ethan to steal the deadly weapon for him. With his wife Julia and his new life in jeopardy, Ethan Hunt will be pushed to the edge in order to protect everything he holds dear.

It's quite obvious that J.J. Abrams was trying to add a more personal touch to this installment by having the villain threatening Ethan's private life as well as global security. In an attempt to add some more human drama to the proceedings, Abrams allows us to look at Hunt's world outside of his job - something we saw precious little of if any in the previous films. This is certainly commendable, and there are some other nice touches that he uses in this film as well. The opening scene is actually a very tense sequence late in the film where we find Hunt in the middle of a life or death situation. The film then flashes back to where it all began. The opening scene is a great attention grabber for the audience, and sets up an appropriate tense tone. It's too bad that the film winds up shooting itself in the foot, as it is never quite able to reach this level of tension ever again. And while the idea of focusing on Ethan's life is a good one, the film does so little with the idea that you almost wonder why Abrams (who co-wrote the script as well) kept the idea in there at all. All hope that this will be an intelligent action thriller fades away as we slowly begin to realize that the film has nothing more on its mind than being a white knuckle special effects and overblown stunt extravaganza.

Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with that, especially for a summer movie. But Mission: Impossible III gets a little bit too crazy for its own good. The movie throws Hunt into one increasingly ludicrous dangerous situation after another, piling them on to the point that it starts to become unintentionally laughable. The fact that most of these overblown action sequences take place in broad daylight and in the middle of crowded and public areas, and the surrounding people don't seem to be quite as concerned as they really should be, makes it all the more hilarious. Now, I've never been in a situation where I was in a crowded city street bridge, and suddenly helicopters and jet fighters started shooting at cars with guided missiles but somehow, I think the innocent people would be in much more of a panic. Public roadways are blown to bits, massive amounts of property damage occurs, innocent people get caught in the crossfire, and very few people even seem to raise an eyebrow at these incredible and horrific events unfolding right outside their front door. For a top secret government agency, the IMF certainly does not take any drastic steps to hide their identity, since in this movie they're often in violent gunfights in plain view, dodging bullets and ballistic weaponry. It gets to the point that the film starts to resemble a big dumb video game with Tom Cruise running, jumping, and shooting hundreds of faceless drones. This is one of those movies where you wonder why the filmmakers didn't just go all the way and add a score counter in the top right hand corner of the screen.

I probably wouldn't mind so much if the movie didn't deceive us into thinking that it was going to be more than that. The movie starts out by leading us on to believe that it's actually going to be about something, only to fall back on continuous action sequences that are well done, but start to grow tiresome as the film goes on. The movie doesn't even seem to be interested in its own plot, as we never do find out quite what the "Rabbit's Foot" really is. Ethan Hunt keeps on asking what the Rabbit Foot is, but the answer is never provided. We do get to see it, and judging by the countless warning labels that cover it, it's obviously very dangerous, but that's about all the information the movie provides us with. If you're going to build your plot around a supposed doomsday device, it's nice to at least get an idea of what kind of damage it can cause. It's almost as if the action sequences are here to distract us from the absence of plot, which of course they are. The plot is just an afterthought, and the movie treats it as such. Characters and potentially interesting plot elements are squandered on an overall rushed tone and pace, despite the fact that the film runs at a generous running time of just over two hours. A good example is the main villain, Owen Davian. While appropriately ruthless and icy, there is very little to his role. He is underwritten, and despite getting a few choice scenes, he seems to come and go as the screenplay sees fit, and abruptly exits the film in an almost anticlimactic final scene.

That's not to say everyone doesn't give it their all. Tom Cruise is all but willing to throw himself back into the stunt-filled role of super agent Ethan Hunt. Yes, he doesn't get to create quite as human a character as the film hints at in the beginning, but he is physically skilled enough to pull off the demanding role and a number of complex action scenes. He also has to pretty much carry the film all by himself, as his fellow agents (including Ving Rhames and Maggie Q) are restricted to mostly being on the sidelines while Cruise's Hunt gets to show off. Michelle Monaghan starts off promising as Hunt's new wife (though what happened to Hunt's girlfriend that he walked off into the sunset with at the end of M:I II is never quite explained), but she is mostly used as a damsel in distress, except for a ludicrous scene near the end where she suddenly becomes an expert at handling automatic weaponry after Hunt gives her a brief 15-second explanation on how to load it. Though she is attractive and likeable, we never quite get why Ethan is willing to give up his old life for her, as they spend such a short amount of time together. The real stand out is Philip Seymour Hoffman, who gives a commanding and powerful performance as the film's main villain. He is ruthless, demanding, strong, and deserves much better than what the screenplay gives him. He has such a strong presence that you want to see more of him. Unfortunately, the movie mostly keeps him at bay, and we feel like we're only watching a small fraction of what the character is capable of. Too bad, with a stronger role, the character of Owen Davian could have been one of the more memorable movie villains I think.

When all is said and done, Mission: Impossible III succeeds as a brainless thrill ride movie, but I just can't quite shake the feeling that the filmmakers may have had high aspirations. If they didn't, they should be ashamed of themselves, because there's a lot of wasted opportunities here for a movie that mixes intelligent thrills with popcorn entertainment. In the end, the popcorn aspect wins out, and we're left with just another well-executed yet immediately forgettable summer blockbuster that will most likely make money, but I don't think will be looked back fondly on as the years go on. How sad is it that a single episode of one of Abrams' shows can hold more substance than the entire running time of this movie? Much like those famous self-destructing messages that the series is known for, Mission: Impossible III simply blows up in a slew of over the top action, and evaporates from your mind as soon as the end credits start to roll.

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