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M:I3 stuck in cruise control

Mission: Impossible III, the latest instalment of the 1960s' spy thriller franchise revived by Tom Cruise in the 1990s, is a summer action extravaganza that offers plenty of routine fireworks but very few surprises.

Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, a secret agent on the Impossible Mission Force (IMF). He retires from the frontline to marry Julia (Michelle Monaghan), a doctor who knows nothing about his past.

But Hunt returns to action shortly after an IMF agent is held captive by Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a ruthless international arms dealer and information provider. Hunt vows to track down Davian, who - with the help of a mole - kidnaps Julia and takes her hostage.

Whether you find Mission: Impossible III exciting or not probably depends on how much you adore Cruise, who dominates every frame of the movie. Cruise's performance is too contrived though to be genuinely moving and he looks like a man suffering from a bad headache rather than a husband torn between love and duty.

A major blow to the film is its lack of a strong villain. Hoffman delivers some chilling moments as the sadistic Davian in the first half of the film, but his performance and character gradually dwindle away as Cruise's ego balloons.

Fortunately, director J. J. Abrams - creator of the popular TV series Lost and Alias - keeps the drama simple and stuffs as much action as possible into the film. He lacks the distinct visual style of Brian De Palma and John Woo, the directors of the first two Mission: Impossible films, but some of the stunts are spectacular, especially Hunt jumping off a Shanghai skyscraper and the helicopter chase during a rescue mission.

The ending, however, is ridiculous. Perhaps Cruise is so keen to be a family man that he can't resist preaching family values even in a spy movie.

VERDICT: GO TO THE MOVIES

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