Kathmandu :

Mission Impossible III (Action)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Michelle

Monaghan

Direction: JJ Abrams

Showing at Jai Nepal,

Kumari Cinema

Hollywood’s penchant for the edge-of-the-seat excitement comes bellyful this time. Like most stylised action flicks, MI:III without any significant variation follows the same style-over-substance modus operandi, but carefully interweaving the almost tattered storyline with some death-defying stints and stunts. The flick surprisingly manages to sketch some striking moments. And despite yourself, the harder you try to brood over the storyline, you’ll find yourself teetering on the edge of your seat waiting for the next bang to blow your heads off. As the movie progress, the charismatic Cruise grabs you goggle-eyed while he dodges blows, bullets and bombs to accomplish the impossible.

After almost a decade of active service in the Impossible Mission Force, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) finds himself in the throes of romance. After all, gallantry is only half-heroic if that doesn’t attract a beeline of admirers. But before he becomes a full-fledged family man, things starts to go awry when one of his rookie agent gets captured during an operation of espionage against international techno-trader Own Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). But before long, Hunt in the rescue operation himself entangled in the bloody intrigue tracking the baddie from Berlin to Rome to Shanghai. Of course, the operation also involves missus Julia (Michelle Monaghan), Cruise’s ladylove, who gets abducted midway during the operation. The rest follows as Hunt and his trustworthy team track the baddie and bring him to retribution.

There isn’t much that the movie has to offer in terms of its storyline. But the parts are carefully interwoven so that even the romantic interlude between Ethan and Julia gives substantial strength to keep the action going. Apart from the sophisticated intelligence gadgetry that could set the trend for action flicks to come, there are a few memorable stunts that at least don’t defy the laws of physics. Though Cruise captures the screen presence for the most part, Ving Rhames as the trustworthy teammate amuses during tense moments with his tongue-in-cheek remarks. And a baddie couldn’t appear as vicious as Hoffman manages to appear in his fiery undertones. Even Monaghan, who has nothing much to do other than a hair-splitting confrontation in Rome is an eye candy.

For the fiends who still bear that fetish for fireworks and explosions, it would indeed be an impressive firework show.