Finally! Summer is here. I’ll openly admit that while I do enjoy the art house films and the more serious dramas, I look forward to the summer every year because deep down inside, the little kid inside me is waiting for the big explosions and stunts that are no where to be seen after December. For me, M:I:3 offered the best kick off to the summer and while I had my reservations walking into the cinema for this one (I’ll explain shortly), I couldn’t be more excited for a film.

Let’s get some of the formalities out of the way. M:I:3 starts off with introducing us to Ethan Hunt and his soon to be wife Julie who looks suspiciously like ‘Mrs.’ Cruise. Ethan, who left IMF some time ago, is called back for a special mission that goes haywire. To rectify the situation, Hunt takes it upon himself to complete the mission one way or the other. What follows are some of the standard yet spectacular mission impossible type covert operations, a hot lady showing legs, cars and bridges being blown up and Hunt saving the day.

I attended Showest over a month ago where I was one of the lucky ones to hear J. J. Abrams speak a little bit about the film. One of the things that he said that stuck with me as I walked out of the conference hall was that his approach to making this film was to make a movie with character, a compelling story that just turned out to be a Mission: Impossible film. This statement was reaffirmed after viewing some of the commercials for this film. Now I am all for a character driven film with a compelling story line but I am sort of against the idea of relegating the primary theme of the film to the backseat. I think the reason all of us walk into Mission: Impossible (outside of reasons such as being fans of Tom Cruise) is to see a Mission: Impossible movie first and foremost. That is what we want and that is what we expect. Of the 3 films that have been released so far, my biggest gripe with the series is that we’ve never gotten that.

The M:I films have taken the Mission out of Mission: Impossible. I won’t be one of those that whine about TV to film adaptation but I will point out that the appeal behind the series was that it was entirely about a mission. One would be planned, things would go wrong and eventually rectified but at the end of the day, the entire thing dealt with the mission at hand. Not so much with the films. The films have always used it as a premise or a starting point but each film has degraded to become the story of Ethan Hunt. They end up neglecting the team, and by the time the film ends, its Ethan Hunt fighting his own personal battle.

The above should be considered a personal issue I have with the films, not with the actual quality of the film on screen. While I do have my issues with directors and screenwriters forgetting the original intentions of series, I do however applaud them for providing us with one kick ass flick. Outside of some cheesy mushy moments and some rather ridiculous moments (like Ethan not breaking any bones during some of his impossible stunts), the movies offers everything one would not only expect of a summer film but would be thrilled to see at the start of the season. Mission: Impossible III has some of the most well choreographed stunts I’ve seen in recent years and while some situations during these actions scene may be too convenient, it all helps in delivering some great adrenaline rushes.

The acting in the film for the most part, was decent but it is really Phillip Seymour Hoffman who really stands out in this picture. This is a disappointing aspect of the film as he barely sees any screen time in the film and his character, for the most part, is not treated fairly. While Ethan Hunt as usual gets the primary focus, the character of Hoffman, while being kick ass, remains one dimensional for the entirety of the film.

For those of you who have spent the last 4 months keeping themselves entertained by sub par mediocre offerings from the studios, I would suggest rushing out to see this opening act of the summer. As my friend said at the end of the film, “Dude! A lot of things blew up man! Good times.”