MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III is not the blender-ful of mixed-up plot elements and over-the-top action that pretty much ruined MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II. Nor is it an effective spy thriller, as was the first MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film. Instead, it continues the film franchise's tendency to move away from the premise of the television show in favor of turning Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) into an American equivalent of James Bond. Come to think of it, the film goes a step further, presenting Cruise something close to Superman

Which wouldn't be so bad if the whole thing were treated like a tongue-in-cheek romp, but the film really, really, really overdoes the serious action by half - and half again. Watching MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III like sitting through a long infomercial dedicated to the invincible macho power of Cruise, who almost literally leaps tall buildings at a single bound, when he's not running halfway across China while barely breaking a sweat.

As if the figurative invincibility were not enough, the film seeks to add a layer of emotional vulnerability -- year, Cruise bounces back from bullets, but man, does he ever feel bad when someone he cares about gets captured, hurt, or even killed. (Of course, it goes without saying that the film spares little emotional concern for the actual victim -- the only pain that counts is the pain that Cruise feels.)

If I seem to be confusing the actor with the character (using the former name rather than the later), it's because the film is set up that way. Cruise produced it, and as with the previous two, it was clearly designed as a star vehicle for him, despite the superficial trappings of an ensemble piece. This is too bad, because, whatever its flaws, what the old MISSION IMPOSSIBLE television series had going for it was the appeal of watching how the team worked together to pull off incredible scams that allowed them to thwart the villains without directly revealing their hand -- it was all a matter of teamwork and clever subterfuge.

None of that is in evidence here. The IMF team mostly knows how to shoot and blow things up real good -- which they do almost every chance they get. There are one or two points where they attempt something clever, but usually it's just a matter of bringing lots of firepower to bear. (Not that it's particularly effective -- they pretty much botch an early, simple rescue attempt, even thought they have superior technology and the element of surprise on their side.)

As for the story, you can pretty much forget it (the script writers certainly did). There's a MacGuffin in place that might (or might not) threaten the world, but that's really just an excuse for Cruise to chase the bad guy Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), which in turns gives Davian an excuse to turn the tables and kidnap Cruise's fiancé (yes, actress Michelle Monaghan suggests Katie Holmes -- and as a matter of fact, Davian's other female victim resembles Cruise' previous wife, Nicole Kidman. Make of that what you will.)

To be fair, the script does work out a few details regarding motivations that seem tangled but thread neatly together when everything is explained. The problem is that the characters never question any of these entanglements while the web is being woven. Cruise is called back into action and captures Davian in a caper made to look as if Davian is dead -- yet a rescue team breaks Davian out of custody, and no one at IMF bothers to think, "Hey, there must be a mole in our organization -- how else would Davian's people know he was alive?"

Next big overlooked plot point (overlooked by our hero, that is) Davian uses the kidnapped fiancé as leverage to get Cruise to steal something called the "rabbit's foot" (the aforementioned, possibly apocalyptic MacGuffin). Davian's an arms dealer who has been planning to sell this device to some shady characters. Big question: since it's so well guarded, how was he planning to get his hands on it before Cruise's Ethan Hunt got involved? Once you start thinking along these lines, you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to put two and two together and start asking whether Hunt's old handler had some kind of hidden agenda when calling him out of retirement. Yet out invincible bright boy never makes the connection until it quite literally stares him in the face.

But forget about intelligent characterization. This film has other fish to fry. Television flavor of the month J.J. Abrams (making his feature directing debut on the strength of creating LOST and ALIAS) fills the movie with television virtues, which seem to consist of personalizing the story by giving Hunt a home life. Because the fact that he's a spy is not enough to hold our attention; he needs to be a nice guy, too, who loves his girl.

This unwanted detour into soap opera saps way too much time in the first half-hour, and let's face it -- this is basically a retread of TRUE LIES (e.g., a spy whose personal relationship is threatened because he cannot tell the truth about himself). The excess of action that follows has a desperate edge to it, as if overcompensating for the drudgery of the "story." Yet it seldom reaches the wished-for levels of excitement: it lacks the tension DePalma brought to the first film; it doesn't even have the marginally saving grace of excess absurdity that made bits of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II fun (if silly), thanks to John Woo's patented style.

There actually is one decently thrilling sequence, which involves a jump from one skyscraper to another. It's not only exciting; it's genuinely frightening, serving up almost as much vertigo and dizziness in a few seconds as the entire ending of KING KONG. But even here, the script falters, relying on good luck, rather than any smart planning, to get our hero to safety.

After MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II went so far over-the-top, it probably seemed like a good idea to bring things back down to Earth. But the attempt is half-hearted, created a schizophrenic mix of unbelievable action surrounded by a storyline that wants to be taken not as escapist fun but as serious drama. Hoffman's deadpan delivery as the villain certainly helps, and you have to give Cruise some credit for trying so hard to convince us that he's not just an action star but a genuine actor bringing a character to life. Simon Pegg (of SHAUN OF THE DEAD) gets a couple of the best moments, and Maggie Q, as the lone female member of the IMF team, easily outshines the Occidental leading ladies.

But ultimately the summer movie formula undermines any loftier aspirations. The violence and bloodshed are without consequence or dramatic impact. Sure, lots of people die, but that's not going to stop our happy-go-lucky hero and his gal from walking away arm in arm, laughing and joking. (It's supposed to be funny when he can't get her to believe the truth about himself, because it's so incredible -- the sort of joke that works in a romp like CHARLIE' ANGELS but not in a film that otherwise wants to be taken oh so seriously).

In the end, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III is not a bad film exactly; it's more like a mistake. It's not a bad idea to play with the formula a bit and add a few unexpected elements, but you need to know what you're making. It would have been nice to see a little bit more of the old TV series premise work its way into a film, but simply adding generic television tropes was not the way to go.

FAVORITE SCENE

In MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) frequently managed to disguise himself quite completely and quite quickly as someone else. How he did this on short notice was never explained; it was just used as an easy gag to "surprise" the audience, when the character pulled the mask away to reveal Cruise's face underneath. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III actually makes up for this cheap cinematic device by crafting a sequence that shows exactly how the masks are made on short notice, with computer-guided laser imaging carving a likeness into a generic mask. This is followed by a brief bit wherein Hunt (disguised as the Davian) forces Davian to speak a sequence of words that will allow a voice synthesizer to recreate Davian's voice. It's nice to see this disguise trick, too often overused under incredible circumstances, handled with some kind of logic.

TRIVIA

One of the more clever ideas in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III is seen when Ethan Hunt infiltrates the Vatican by temporarily disabling a surveillance camera, taking a photograph of the territory the camera is watching, and then placing the photograph in front of the camera lens, so that anyone watching the monitor will unwittingly see only the image of an empty street. Of course, this idea was even more clever when it was used in 1968's DANGER: DIABOLIK.