MI-3: Better Than Caffeine

I promise I won't squeal any vital spoilers here.

I was already sleepy when my soulmate and I reached Cinema 2 of Eastwood City where Tom Cruise's MI-3 had an advanced screening hours ago. It began a bit late, and there were skirmishes between usherettes and couples who got separated because of poorly-managed seat reservations. But when the lights went off and the movie began, every one got quiet and glued to their seats, their eyes fixed on the screen. Dan-dan-dan-dan-dan-dan-tananan-tananan-dan-dan-dan! If you're a true MI fan, you can probably hum the musical score by instinct...*LOL*

There was no dull moment in this movie. The opening scene is already a flashback of a main segment more than an hour from the beginning. Lots of explosions, shootings, punches, kickings, and missile fires will keep you at the edge of your seats. The presence of Lawrence Fishburne and the way Tom Cruise jumps buildings will make you wonder if this was a spoof of the Matrix trilogy and the Spiderman series. The image you see on the right, for example, reminds me of one of the final scenes of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Rather than conclude that MI-3 is nothing but a spoof of all those great action movies you saw years ago, I would say that it is an improvement. In my opinion, I think this version has a better storyline than the first and second Mission Impossible films.

The first MI was directed by Brian De Palma, and the second one was by John Woo. So, was JJ Abrams a good choice as director of this film? Was this more Alias than Lost? Oh, yes!! You can see traces of Alias here. For one, I saw Greg Grunberg here. Also, the fumbling character of Marshall from Alias, is very reflective on the character of MI-3's Benji Dunn.

Sorry if I can't help being meticulous about medical details, but how long does a person who had cardiac arrest need to be revived before he suffers from brain damage?

You tell me. Watch the movie first. Then, read this primer on cardiac arrest.

Oh, I almost forgot....Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was great. If only for him, you really have to see this movie. His role here is an exact reversal of his Oscar-winning appearance in Capote.

My sincere thanks to UIPictures and HBO Asia for the invitation.