Sequelitis is a long-running affliction of the movie industry. Third installments are usually one installment too many. MI3 is no different.
The main draw for MI3 for me was Oscar (tm) Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (never thought I'd get to write that) as the film's antagonist. He gets far too little screen time though, and Tom Cruise Crazy hogs the screen. That's bad, because PSH can disappear into the skin of his characters, in this case creating one of the coldest and most effective screen villains I've come across. Tom Cruise Crazy is still Tom Cruise Crazy, even if he's supposed to be Federal Agent Ethan Hunt. There just isn't enough PSH to wipe the memory of Mr. Katie Holmes jumping on Oprah's couch.
JJ Abrams is a curious choice. Best known for his small screen successes with LOST, Alias and Felicity (ok, maybe not Felicity), he reverts to some really annoying TV habits. One of them that I loathe is the shaky handheld camera schtick. What, are you scrimping on the SteadiCam rentals JJ? This isn't a hyper-realistic war film, it's Mission: Impossible.
Abrams also wrote the screenplay for MI3, and it looks like he's been taking notes from another boob tube hit that he isn't affiliated with, Federal Agent Jack Bauer's 24. MI3 moves along somewhat like a higher-tech double-length episode of 24 with more explosions but with less tension. Several plot points are truly implausible, and at least two of them had me wanting to shout "bullshit" at the screen. Worst of all, you know that because this is a film featuring Tom Cruise Crazy nothing bad could happen to him. That makes the film completely impotent, unlike 24 where you know that no one outside of Federal Agent Jack Bauer safe.
The rest of the cast is forgettable. Abrams favorite Kerri Russel makes an appearance as a tougher-than-Felicity Federal Agent, Ving Rhames is the sterotypical big black guy on the MI team, Morpheus himself plays one of the weaker-than-24 plot points, and Jonathan Rhys Myers works for a paycheck in a role light years easier than Elvis. Meiqi Li (Maggie Q to you) and random blonde Michelle Monaghan are the strong female cast members. Overall, no one creates much of a blip on the radar.
Bottom Line: Yeah, yeah, I'm critiquing a summer action film. It's got explosions and guns and Philip Seymour Hoffman, so I can tolerate it. However, you could do much better if you want a good action movie. Die Hard's throne is safer than ever.
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