Ethan Hunt comes out of retirement for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 (2006)

In preparation for the upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol hitting theaters in 5 days, I am re-watching the first three Impossible films. This is one of my favorite movie series and Tom Cruise is awesome as superspy Ethan Hunt.

Cruise returns for a third time as agent Ethan Hunt

In the third adventure, Ethan has actually retired from the spy game, occasionally teaching trainees how to be the best agent they can be. He has settled down and married a nurse named Julia (a fetching performance by Michelle Monaghan). Life is good until a former student of his, Lindsey (played by Keri Russell, who gets to flex some action skills for a change) is captured by some bad guys and must be rescued.

A rescue mission turns deadly

Hunt comes to her aid with his right hand man Luther (Ving Rhames, the only returning cast member from the first two movies), Zhen (Maggie Q) and Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). After a thrilling action sequence in Berlin, our team finds Lindsey but don't save her in time. Hunt makes it his mission to find the man responsible for her death. And that would be black marketeer Owen Davian (a super villainous turn by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Hunt and his team abducts Davian from the Vatican, of all places, to persuade him to tell them what the mysterious rabbit's foot is that Davian is trying to sell to a foreign power.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as bad guy Owen Davian

After a tussle or two, Davian escapes and now the tables are turned as he kidnaps Julia, forcing Ethan to return the rabbit's foot to him within 48 hours or Julia will die. Hunt is now a man on a mission.

Ethan and his beautiful wife Julia (played by Michelle Monaghan)

Mission Impossible 3 is my favorite of the series so far as it is loaded with cool action scenes and great performances by the entire cast. Notable action sequences include a super charged shoot-out on a bridge between the IMF team and Davian's men. And a high speed car chase through the streets of Shanghai. Cruise is perfect once again as Ethan, and even gets to show a more tender side as he is now a married man. Hoffman rocks it as the bad guy. A truly memorable performance. Laurence Fisburne is also top notch as IMF's new boss. Also look for Simon Pegg as tech guy Benji. All in all MI3 fires on all cylinders, never making a false step. And now I can't wait for Ghost Protocol when it hits theaters next week.
B+

Shoot out at the bridge

Ethan doing his thing

Maggie Q as Zhen

Ving Rhames as Luther

The IMF team striking a pose

Action Movie For The Day - THE MATRIX (1999): In the words of Keanu...WHOA!

March 31st, 1999. I remember that date reverently for two reasons. One, well my birthday is March 31st so that's a no-brainer. But the other reason is because this very cool sci-fi action flick called The Matrix debuted. And it was freakin' off the chain. You had never seen a movie like this before. It introduced so many cool concepts that it was copied and parodied so many times by other films, you began to lose count. But The Matrix is one wild ride. Keanu Reeves as Neo, the chosen one who will lead humans to rebel against the Matrix, a massive artificial intelligence system that has created an illusion for humans of everyday life of present day with jobs, family, school, etc. Well the year is actually 2199 and the Matrix is running things. A small group of humans led by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) with the high kicking Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss best role) at his side are fighting back and recruit Thomas Anderson (Keanu) who thinks he is a computer programmer. But in actuality he is the chose one called Neo. Of course The Matrix sends its agents led by the nefarious Mr. Smith (icily played by Hugo Weaving) to eliminate him. And in the Matrix world, you can do anything. As Neo finds out he has some mad kung fu skills downloaded into his brain. The laws of physics do not exist in this world and that makes for some cool and fantastic scenes. Bullet time! How cool was that! The Matrix is awesome and holds up remarkably well. Much more than the weaker sequels that followed. The original is still the best.
B+