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

10 Reasons Why Piranha was a cool and fun movie...

The last film I saw as the summer movie season ended was the enjoyable Piranha 3-D. Yes, it was a trashy b-movie, but it was a good trashy one. Instead of the usual review, I will list the top ten reasons why I liked this movie.

1. By casting veteran actors Richard Dreyfuss and Chistopher Lloyd and letting them have some fun with their roles. It was cool seeing these guys back on the screen.

2. Elisabeth Shue (from the original Karate Kid) was an unusual choice to play the town sheriff, but she pulled it off. She was tough when she needed to be and was believable. Not use to hearing her say lines like "Get the f***ck out of the water now!".

3. Ving Rhames going medieval on some of the deadly fish with an outboard motor that was just bad ass.

4. By setting the film in a lake town in Arizona instead of Florida or California made it fresh and different.

5. The timing of Spring Break meant thousands of college kids being there partying, drinking, playing loud music and wet t-shirt contests. Plenty of nudity and rough language. A definite R-rated film just like the good old 80's.

6. Kelly Brook as the sexy Girl Gone Wild video star was actually one of the best characters in the film. Usually the sexy man hungry type character is not the girl you want to see the lead guy hook up with. She had to contend with the guy's returning high school sweetheart, who was annoying as hell. So in this case, Kelly outshines the virginal best friend of said hero.

Actress Kelly Brook

7. The piranha attacks start off slow but then build to a 40 minute feeding frenzy with graphic and bloody killings and deaths. Limbs are chewed off, torsos cut in half, faces ripped off...just gnarly stuff. The director staged the centerpiece sequence where everyone is trying to saying above the water on this floating stage and it starts sinking was awesome. And when the bodies start piling up in boats and in the water, it starts to look like Saving Private Ryan's Omaha Beach scene.

8. Jerry O'Connell is wicked as the Girl Gone Wild coke snorting producer who just wants to make videos. Damn the fish!

9. Adam Scott with shotgun, riding around on a jet ski, doing his best tough guy impression.

10. And finally, director/writer Eli Roth, who I thought was just unbearable for the whole length of Inglorious Basterds, is perfect in a 5 minute cameo as the wet t-shirt host who says the memorable line to his dj after telling the police they aint shutting down...."Hit it Chocolate Thunder!".

So those are my top 10 reasons why I liked Piranha. Every now and then you need junk food to go along with the good healthy cuisine. And Piranha is pure junk, but it goes down so good.