Now this film is more like it. That is not to say that it is a perfect movie but it gets far more right than it gets wrong and is easily the most enjoyable of the first three films in this series (This reminder that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is now in theaters). All it took was turning the keys to the car over to a guy who was directly in the middle of a buzz filled television show.
The script throws us directly into the fire with Ethan Hunt strapped to a chair and his wife strapped to a second chair across from him. Controlling the action is Owen Davian, played with a sinister glee by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hunt is pleading for his wife's life while Davian is insisting that Hunt hand over the Rabbit's Foot. The sequence ends with Davian shooting Hunt's wife in the head and then the film jumps back in time to show us how we got to that point. By structuring the film this way it did a few things that worked. In the first two films we met Hunt either in the middle of getting one up on someone or out climbing mountains on vacation. Here, he is a hero in peril from the start and we know that no matter what happens with Hunt having the upper hand, at some point he will be trapped by the villains. Also, it jump started the story giving us a frame of reference to work towards rather than just trying to build from the start which is sort of where the second one falls apart. In the second one the story builds to a virus being released. Here, we aren't sure what the Rabbit's Foot is, but if a guy is willing to shoot a woman point blank in the face it must be something that carries some heavy power. This film has stakes and it throws a bunch of cards on the table at the start.
This seems to grow from the fact that J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe) knows how to make viewers emotionally invested in the characters. Hunt had a quality of not being likable at times in the first two. Here he has some personality and we can feel for the plight he finds himself in. From there then we actually get some supporting characters fleshed out a little. It's not great, and it is still where the film falters some, but Simon Pegg in a few minutes of screen time is almost as developed a character as Thandie Newton was in the second film.
The film shines to when the big action pieces show up including the bridge scene which is arguably the best action sequence in the series of films. Davian is being transported in a convoy when it is attacked by Davian's crew. There is a helicopter firing on the trucks from above knocking out quite a few of the good guys. It is tense and there are plenty of explosions which all lead to Davian escaping. This leads to hunt fearing for his wife's safety and leads us into the scene which began the film.
What really sets this film apart from the other ones though is that Hoffman is great as the villain. He is enjoying the role and controls the situations with a seething vengeance. He resists the urge to yell most of the time and instead relies on ordering threats and commands through gritted teeth. Since he is so evil and defined it gives Hunt a real foil to play off of and that means the action has some sense of conflict. What is happening matters because the viewer cares for Hunt and his wife. It also means the plot twist isn't as bad because the viewer can see a scenario where Davian convinced the person to flip just by sheer force of a threat.
I have to admit by the time this sequel rolled around I was growing weary of the series. However, Abrams brought a fresh take and developed a movie that- while still formulaic was never boring and was actually interesting throughout. Hopefully the 4th one keeps the train moving in a positive direction.
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