MI-3

Strangely, there is a human taste to the third sequel of the Mission Impossible. The main character Ethan (played by Tom Cruise) is not a cool professional that wants to execute his mission flawlessly, but rather moves desperately and passionately to save the woman he loves. The sweat and tears that Ethan sheds add a salty flavor that becomes the driving force, making the action and drama in the movie speed madly while sticking to each other.

The movie’s accolade is making all the cinematic moments converse with Ethan’s inner self. That is maybe why the 44 year-old Tom Cruise still looks terribly good as an action movie actor, or why it gives the sensation that Ethan, whom Tom Cruise plays, is the natural human that actress Katie Holmes fell in love with. And the film gives the impression that Julia (played by Michelle Monaghan), the fiancée of Ethan, is not an ornamental Bond girl, but rather a unique character.

Ethan is off from the field and takes the task of training special agents, and has an upcoming wedding with his beloved Julia. On the engagement ceremony day, Ethan is urgently summoned, takes off and succeeds in kidnapping an international information trader Owen (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), but Owen escapes with the help from someone inside Ethan’s organization. Owen holds Julia hostage, and threatens to kill her if sensitive intelligence is not given to him in 48 hours. In the end Owen pulls the trigger right in front of Ethan.

In fact, the detailed scenes of the movie give a rendezvous image. The main character and his team being bombarded in an isolate bridge brings back memories of “True Lies,” and Ethan sliding dangerously from a skyscraper’s glass walls reminds of Jackie Chan’s (more dynamic) action stunts.

Nevertheless the way of cooking is more important than the ingredients. Just as Lego blocks can be arranged into creative ways, this movie scraps average scenes and combines them in a unique way. The increased close-up shots and the camera that moves dexterously close to Ethan give a more serious and grave action shots than the previous movies.

Another reason why this movie is beautiful is that even though it spent $200 million as production costs, it did not boast of it. This is an extension of the movie’s self-restraining attitude that it will only tell the necessary story. The movie is set in Rome, New York, Paris, and Shanghai, but the movie only uses appropriate local time, and with sleek editing it does not loosen the tension in the movie.

Love is told to even save dying people, and this time it saved “Mission Impossible III” directed by J. J. Abrams who directed TV series such as “Lost” and “Alias.” The movie is rated PG-13

Seung-Jae Lee sjda@donga.com