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philhoffman · 1 year

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This week’s Monday Philm is one of the most fun movies ever, Mission: Impossible III (2006). Action movies aren’t my favorite, JJ Abrams isn’t the most beloved director ever, the shaking/blurry camera and lens flares make it hard to see what is happening at all times—and yet, so fucking fun.

The hardest cold open in history. It’s gotta be, right? Part of what makes this movie so great is that Phil is clearly having the time of his life. It’s objectively hilarious that he went from winning the Oscar for Capote to immediately being in this big Hollywood action star blockbuster. And he didn’t do anything else like it again. It’s so fun seeing him play Tom Cruise playing himself and doing (most of) his own stunts—especially the helicopter, knowing it made him violently ill after every take 😭

Something I think about a lot in relation to PSH’s characters is that he gives them such life, his films often feel like they’re dropping in on a very real person for a short time. Like they’ve existed before the timeline of the movie and they will continue living their life after it ends (well, except for a few unlucky guys)—we’re just getting a glimpse of that life. Not sure any character embodies that better than Owen Davian. He’s just so bored. All of this Rabbit’s Foot business and spy stuff is very exciting and urgent and intense for Ethan Hunt and the IMF (not the International Monetary Fund) and everyone else. But Davian, who is kidnapped by a clone of himself in a Vatican bathroom then held out the cargo bay doors of a jet tens of thousands of feet above the ground, can’t be bothered. He blinks awake at his captors, he teases them, he gets all the information he needs from a single name. He shakes his hand out after throwing a punch because it hurts, he stumbles a bit over his own feet while threatening Julia, he drags Hunt lazily across the floor. Davian’s got other things on his mind, more important matters. These are Tom Cruise’s movies, of course, so Davian could never win, but until then this is absolutely just another Tuesday in his mind.

I’d love to see all the different ways they shot the airplane scene. We know from one of the trailers that there’s another take in which he plays it softer than the final cut—still threatening, but invested, almost giddy. It would be awesome to see any other alternate approaches.

I also love the little moments—the brute force with which he grabs a drink from the waiter’s tray, the trademark way he gently, just barely touches Maggie Q’s face when her character Zhen Lei spills the wine on his shirt (the same gesture he makes to Charlie in Scent of a Woman!), his imitation of Tom Cruise right after the mask swap when talking to Luther.

The first time I watched MI3 was last summer with my family, and it was such an unexpectedly great treat that we all enjoyed it. I remember thinking, this is exactly the kind of movie people are talking about when they say Philip Seymour Hoffman takes a good movie and makes it phenomenal. There will always be action movies, Hollywood will always churn them out, no matter who’s in them. MI3 is a fine movie. But then he shows up and BAM, it’s a standout, it’s something people remember. This is the movie that makes it a joy to see PSH on screen, for the casual movie buff and for his diehard fans. He made things better for anyone.

#starting to feel the winter/pre-february blues. missing our boy. coping w/ it by reading too much into a silly blockbuster. but that's ok :)#also love when he says 'you don’t have any idea what the hell’s going on do ya?' bc this is like my third watch and I still don't get it <3 #ur sooooo right mr. davian I'm here for the vibes I'm not following the plot at ALL 🤭#also also ummm he's so sexy. biting my fist reminding myself to breathe sexy #monday philm #mission: impossible iii #philip seymour hoffman #psh #*#ALSO HI JESS CONGRATS ON WATCHING WELCOME TO THE OWEN DAVIAN FANCLUB

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footnoteinhistory · 2 years

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High point of the day is my aunt randomly snapchatting me a photo of Phil in Mission: Impossible III and saying “He’s so evil”

#yes he is and that’s my baby 🥰#genuine jumpscare when I expect to open a snap of their dog or her dinner and instead I get. Owen Davian

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lifeduringwar-time · 2 years

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Okay looks like im gonna be watching mission impossible 3 tonight

#owen davian . This ones for you

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itsalwaystomcruise · 9 months

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#I know this has nothing to do with Tom #but I just rewatched Ghost Protocol and the creation of this poll came to mind #tom cruise #mission impossible #jon voight #dougray scott #philip seymour hoffman #michael nyqvist #sean harris #henry cavill #esai morales #poll #textpost

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callmearcturus · 4 months

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i've never seen someone who hates MI3 more than MI2 before

(NOTE: LONG POST, HIT J TO SKIP)

MI3, how do I hate thee? lemme count the ways

The Filming Itself

the cinematography is atrocious. as Punct and I discussed in our DVD commentary track for MI3, I truly feel like JJ Abrams is aware that shaky cam exists, but not the reasons someone would use it, so the camera is shaking even in sequences it absolutely should not be. it feels to me that JJA was like "the more important/intense a scene, the more the camera should move" and like. jfc.

this is like really important because it makes it literally difficult to understand the movie as its unfolding. there's multiple moments when you lose pieces of the action due to the cinematography. two moments immediately come to mind: Zhen falling out of the helicopter and having to climb back in, and the way the camera completely ruins Ethan's base jump escape from the Shanghai building.

SPEAKING OF, there are only two good stunts in this film. one is Ethan breaking the car with his body on the bridge. which is bc that's shot as a fairly steady pull-back with Ethan running directly at camera. the other is the batshit spidercam full tilt sprint at the end of the movie where the camera holds shot for probably the longest period in the entire movie. everything else is wrecked by the shitty camerawork.

POINT IS THAT THE SHALLOWEST APPEAL OF MI MOVIES IS THE STUNTS AND MI3 HAS BY FAR THE WORST STUNTS

also why the fuck is the camera shaking during normal stationary shot-reverse-shot dialogue scenes, JJ. jesus fucking christ. can I please see the actors ACTUALLY ACTING please?

The Script

kay lets move on from my fiery hatred of the camerawork and onto my fiery hatred of this movie's script. I am a non-professional writer and i could run a fucking clinic on this goddamn script.

lets get the most egregious thing out of the way immediately: this movie tries to make you give a shit about The Team and one of the team members is literally never named in dialogue for the entire runtime of the movie. if you miss the five frame intro card for Declan at the start of the movie, you will never learn that character's name for the entire movie. that's such a fucking egregious fuck-up I almost think I can just say that and it explains The Problem With MI3

BUT THAT'S BORING SO LETS GO ON

I have seen many many people say that their favorite villain in MI is Owen Davian. that's.... fine. but is that because he's just suuuuuch a compelling character, or because Phillip Seymour Hoffman showed up and decided "I'm going to play this guy like an investment banker who went postal one day" and he's PSH and was one of the most naturally charismatic men to live?

IMO they had to get PSH bc on paper, Davian is just the most non-entity of the MI villains. there is no motivation outside of Being The Bad Guy, there's no backstory, there's a void of a character. even Hendricks from GP has all of those things and he's a villain as plot device.

also why the sweet fuck did he kill his translator. lets set aside the incredible Yikes element of covering an asian woman's face with a white woman's because Yikes but also why the fuck was she being "punished"?

WHICH SEGUES NICELY INTO PLOT CONTRIVANCE BITCHING. this movie is held together with contrivances. the grandest example is the We have to put Ethan in an unsexy bondage mask for this interrogation bc if he could speak in this scene, the movie would fall apart but the entire plot hinges on a moment when the Actual Bad Guy Musgrave literally fucking says

"Did Lindsey figure out I was the bad guy? Did she figure out all these things I did which I will now list for you? Did you the audience she figure that out? No you didn't which is why I am explaining it explicitly to camera." THIS IS. I JUST. FLAMES ON THE SIDES OF MY FACE!!!!!! I find it hilarious how GP presents the exact kind of Excuse Plot but actually does it pitch-perfectly, because it had Chris McQuarrie to actually write it.

The Entire Rabbit's Foot thing. Speaking of McQ, he had a quote that basically cemented my lust for his brain and my desire to absorb his power. fuck it here's the full quote:

"Respectfully, I’m not a mystery box guy. I don’t believe in that kind of storytelling, I feel that that leads to — I understand that it makes for very compelling narrative drive, but it brings you to the end of the movie and it inspires the three great words of cinema, which are: “And? So? OK?” And if you hear any one of those three things, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. I believe that a mystery is only as good as its reveal.”

now this was about Ghost Protocol, not intended as a criticism of MI3 but it sums up the entire problem with the Rabbit's Foot. like, it's a mystery box with nothing in it because... the contents don't matter. in the climax of the movie, you see the Rabbit's Foot and it looooooks like it miiiight be a bioweapon? but it doesn't matter. so the fact that it's VERY LOUDLY a mystery literally has no purpose and never pays off. so to quote McQ again: And? So? Ok?

Oh and that's all just my anger at the Plot Writing of MI3. that doesn't even touch on the character writing.

Character Fuckery

We've already touched on Owen Davian being a void of motivation and on the fact THEY DIDN'T GIVE US THE NAME OF ONE OF THE CORE TEAM MEMBERS lets get into the rest of it

"And did you ever.... sleep with your sister" is the worst line in a Mission Impossible movie and you made Ving fucking Rhames say it. I'm a rehabilitationist but I will make an exception for once if we can send the person who wrote that line to prison forever.

To be honest this entire movie does Luther so fucking dirty it's astonishing. He's here to artificially create conflict. I honestly find it annoying that his Defining Character Trait in MI1 and the thing that drew Ethan to him was his scruples regarding endangering people, and he has like. nothing to say about giving Davian the rabbit's foot. Okay.

THE CRIMINAL WASTE OF SIMON PEGG. Benji gets two scenes in this movie and the second one is.... frankly maybe the singular good bit of fun, engaging character interaction in the whole movie, but to get there you have to weather the Antigod Speech which. I can barely think about with IRL cringing, like my body just has an allergic reaction to the idea. it doesn't help that he's used as the mouthpiece for the Mystery Box of the movie, and we've already established its an empty box that doesn't matter.

(what I find hilarious is that Pegg is an extremely good character writer and I would bet every dollar in my measly bank account that he could have improvised a better version of that speech. god i hate it.)

Ethan and Julia. IMO Cruise and Monaghan carried this movie on their fucking backs and without them putting in the WORK with zero material, this movie would be incomprehensibly worst. Cruise and Monaghan, thank you for your service.

Punct always points out when we watch MI3 that there is a batshit moment in the climax where Julia is strapped to a chair and the camera keeps cutting to her like she's planning something to turn the tables or something but it. never happens? it's egregious and weird how the movie treats her.

actually even as much as I love Monaghan's work here and I'm the kindest to Julia, I feel like the movie doesn't respect her as much as I do. (Punct joked that JJ Abrams doesn't respect women as much as Ethan Hunt does and its hilarious and true.) but the movie keeps being Weird about Julia and putting her in tiddy-licious nighties and gives Ethan a very weird sexy dream sequence about her? and the Mission Impossible that I know and love would have objectified Ethan just as much as her, thank you very much.

Ethan and that goddamn assault rifle.

Actually I want this in its own section

Ethan uses an assault rifle at least twice to my off-the-dome recollection. Luther uses MULTIPLE REMOTE-OPERATED MACHINE GUNS to mow down a factory building. There is a massive shootout on a bridge with a JET FLYING AROUND FIRING MISSILES. Ethan DANGLES A MAN OUT OF A FUCKING PLANE.

In MI1, Ethan Hunt never fires a single shot and only holds a gun on someone once to my memory. Even in MI2, the Stupid One, Ethan is armed but only really gets into one shootout and does a lot of kicking people in slowmotion, which is silly, but My point is that MI3 feels like a Call of Duty campaign with its body count and the way it reframes Ethan's job away from Honeytrap and Spy to Generic Soldier.

and it's fucking boring. all of Ethan's guile moments are clawed out of the morass of him just shooting people, and its devastatingly boring. paired with the REMOTE-OPERATED MACHINE GUNS and the new portrayal of the IMF in MI3, it just feels like.... Ethan is one of the baddies actually? the ppl who show up with three van-mounted machine guns are not the good guys, lmao.

I don't have time to go into the visual design of this movie and how the most interesting locations are so poorly lit you can't fucking see them but we need to talk about the IMF Itself in this movie

I actually have already written my thoughts about the evolution of the IMF through the series and I'm in passionate desperate love with what that evolution signals thematically

B U T the IMF in MI3 is just a fucking crime procedural lab. there is a War Room, there's Meeting Rooms, and when stuff breaks we have The Room Where The Nerds Live. it's just CSI/NCIS/name a stupid show. which fits because IIRC this is JJA's first or one of the first films, and he's a TV man by trade. but by carrying that Weekly Procedural philosophy into MI, it reduces the texture of MI.

the montage of Ethan training Lindsey is the most unintentionally hilarious scene in the movie.

/takes a deep breath

.... is that everything?

NO WAIT I WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE VATICAN INFILTRATION. they put in a lot of work and its easily the most boring infiltration in cinema history. there is no tension, no fun, no improv.

ETHAN HUNT WAS LITERALLY IN A CATHOLIC PRIEST COSTUME COMPLETE WITH THE COLLAR AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE ABOUT IT. THERE ARE NO JOKES. NOTHING. if this was any of the other MI movies, this would be an opening for some banter and jokes, but THEY FORGOT TO PUT THE ENGAGING TEAM DYNAMICS INTO THE FUCKING MOVIE ARRRRKSJFLSKDJHFKSD

that moment when you can kinda see Maggie Q's vag. wh. what was that.

here's the good parts of MI3

it gave us Julia, and she's still great when she returns in Fallout. even with an actively bad script, she brings gravity and grace to a movie that needs it.

Luther calls Ethan "baby" and it's great and its Luther's only good moment in the fucking movie

Ethan Hunt is at his most autistic in this movie and I love it

Ethan and Benji's second scene actually has patter and character moments and chemistry. that one scene has more character than any other in the entire movie and that's sad but also thank god.

the scene where Ethan is preparing to kill himself and is explaining to Julia how to reload the gun "just like the flashlight in the kitchen" is actually a pristine moment. i wish the camera didn't focus as much on Julia's tits while she's doing CPR but listen. i'll take it.

Ethan blocking communications in the IMF by putting the walkietalkie by the radio is very funny.

Tom Cruise really actually broke the windshield of that car with the impact of his body, goddamn.

jfc I need an Exorcism right now, I might go watch MI1 again just to cleanse

AT LEAST MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 KNEW WHAT IT WANTED TO BE AND EXECUTED ON THAT. In this house we may not like MI2 but we respect it.

I will fistfight JJ Abrams on sight.

#the mi3 hater has logged on #mission impossible #long post

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saltyfilmmajor · 10 months

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tell us about how you ship lane and ethan, cause how i see is lane is very obsessed with him and thats of course the romantic hate vibes. in my mind is basically the same dinamic as lego batman and lego joker, but i wanna know your take

So I’ve been really sitting on this question for most of the day because I have a lot to say about this.

There’s more under the cut, but the short answer is I ship them together mostly because how I view them as Narrative Foils who are both fixated/obsessed with each other (for different but equally interesting reasons). But also, it’s not outright hate they harbor (at least not in Rogue Nation, in Fallout that is more accurate), Ethan understands Lane’s motivations even if he despises the man’s actions, and Lane is very much interested in Ethan’s potential as an anarchist/terrorist.

I think it’s interesting you cite Lego Batman and Joker’s dynamic as the frame of reference for Your interpretation of Lane x Ethan, and that’s totally valid. I’ve not seen lego batman but what I understand is that that dynamic is romantically coded but played more cartoonishly, which is how I initially viewed Lane x Ethan.

You can absolutely play to the concept comedically, I think there is something inherently funny in shipping a hero with a villain (your mileage may vary.) But for me what draws me to actually writing fic is the angst potential of loving or lusting after someone who is ideologically opposed to you. I think, and reasonable people are free to disagree with my opinion, that Ethan as a character harbors dark thoughts and feelings, but for several reasons lets them go. 1) He understands that there are consequence in giving into his impulsive anger (see: MI3 when he dangles Owen Davian from a fucking plane, which directly results in his own wife getting kidnapped) The idea that Ethan could never turn is something that floats around in the fandom, and while it’s true to say Ethan would never turn (it’s just something imbued into his character by now) I think we don’t explore the “why” of that enough. Ethan has a support system, where Lane does not.

Ethan’s team, whoever they happen to be in any movie, are central to how Ethan interacts with the world he’s always trying to save. Ethan loses his entire team in the first film and that informs every decision he makes for the rest of his life. He wants out of the IMF, but he keeps getting pulled back in. He loses his team, his wife, his protégé and ultimately his ability to live a normal civilian life. But Luther, and Benji and whoever happens to stay on his team, he cares about them, they are his family. We don’t view his prioritizing of his family as selfish, because that’s what people perceive is a normal thing to do. But that prioritization always comes at the cost of the mission. Rogue Nation and Fallout lean into this heavily. Ethan, if properly provoked, he will do impulsive or selfish things (even if those selfish things also happen to benefit other people). The caveat to that is that his friends are able to pull him back, or at least call him out and warn him from going too far on their behalf.

Also, Ethan has a history of rogue behavior that even if it is in the service of the “greater good”, is the justification that the villains of the last three films ultimately rely on for their own actions. So, while we the audience understand Ethan to be the good guy, in universe this is the exact reason all these spy organizations fear/distrust Ethan.

Comparatively speaking, Ethan is more well-adjusted than Solomon Lane, because despite the things he goes through, he doesn’t let his crisis of faith ever deter him from doing what he thinks is right. In contrast, Lane lets his anger drive him into letting the world burn. His anger is destructive, but it serves his purpose of enacting revenge. But he is much more detached emotionally, and there are multiple ways to interpret Lane as a character, but I see him as someone who doesn’t want to admit he may have emotions. Which is understandable as again, he was also a former field agent. The reason he keeps Ilsa around is that he sees potential in her, potential to see the world as he sees it. Vinter speaks at Ethan, asking aloud: “What does he see in you, I wonder?”. While Vinter may not see what Lane is looking for in Ethan, the fact that Lane doesn’t order his outright death is telling, at least to Vinter. (Although that is not enough to stop Vinter from trying regardless.)

There are parts of the script that where cut out of the final film that makes this dynamic more obvious, rather than the subtext it is in the narrative. And while, when analyzing their dynamic I can only rely on what makes it into the final product, the fact that Lane wants to “corrupt/torture/seduce” Ethan has always been intended. However one chooses to read that is up to the viewer, especially because this interpretation of their dynamic relies on subtext.

I think, personally, it’s interesting to explore this dynamic as basically like this: Lane: Aren’t you tired of Being Nice, don’t you just want to go apeshit?

Ethan:

it's about the ideological conflict, and the begrudging understanding. Lane and Ethan function as narrative foils for each other, where they could have turned out as each other, had circumstances been different. “The Same thing that’s wrong with me is wrong with you (Derogatory)”

So that’s my thoughts.

#Nancy's Inbox #Anonymous #Solomon Lane #Ethan Hunt #Lunt #Glassboxboyfriends #Lane x Ethan #mission: impossible

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jimsmovieworld · 1 year

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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3- 2006 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the only mission impossible film i hadnt seen and is possibly the best?

It starts out with a brilliant opening which is definetly my favourite start to any film in the franchise.

We are introduced to excellent bad guy Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has ice cold water flowing through his veins.

Top tier acting from Tom Cruise.

And a very suspenseful count to ten.

The rest of the film is also very good! Didnt feel any action sequences went on too long which is i often do in these movies.

Cool special effects and spy trickery!

A very impressive step back in the right direction after the previous movie.

Directed by JJ Abrams.

#mission impossible #mission impossible 3 #tom cruise #ethan hunt #philip seymour hoffman #jj abrams #movie #film #movie review #action movie #2000s movie

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malewifebillcage · 9 months

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owen davian still reigns supreme as the most freaky bone-chilling villain in m:i i am giving PSH a standing ovation right now for his service

#i love him. not as a person but as a character he is just the best villain i've ever seen onscreen

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issela-santina · 2 years

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it took me how long to actually get that these two are the same guy??

Eddie Marsan in Mission: Impossible III and The World's End.

M:i:III — Brownway, one of Owen Davian's mooks, says something to an unseen Ethan Hunt whose head he pulls up with his hand.

The World's End — Peter Page wryly smiles and holds up his hands which have been stained bluish.

#eddie marsan #peter page #the world's end #mission impossible 3

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philhoffman · 9 months

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Gave into the hype and decided to rewatch Mission: Impossible III (2006) for this week's Monday Philm. Listened to the commentary track by director JJ Abrams and Tom Cruise for fun. A lot of technical stuff ("This was L.A., this was Rome, this was L.A., this was Rome!") but they're both—Tom especially—soooo excited about the movie magic that it's contagious.

I was mostly interested in what they had to say about PSH, who of course they discussed at length during his couple of scenes. Mostly just both of them saying "oh my Gd, he's good" in various ways. They both fawned over the way Phil embodied Tom Cruise-as-Ethan Hunt when he's disguised as Davian—his mannerisms talking to Luther, the way he moves his body in the rafters (Cruise goes "He was a wrestler in high school. A very good athlete." lmao :')).

Phil did many (most?) of his own stunts—there are a few rougher moves where his stunt double took the brunt, but he was really hanging out of the plane upside down, several meters above the ground with just the camera below him, getting tossed into the desks and shoved up against the cabinets. Tom sounded very impressed with his willingness and commitment to doing so much practical stuff, it was very cute! At one point he and JJ both said "I love Phil!" at the same time 🥰

JJ mentioned at least three scenes which were cut or trimmed in the film's final version—an alternate, longer introduction of Davian arriving at the Vatican party, a version of Davian being moved from the plane to the truck with dialogue, and an extended final fight between Ethan and Davian. I think it's cruel and unusual punishment for JJ to even mention those scenes and put their existence into my head if I will never see them!!!

Really did not get much more about the film/story itself this time because they talked nonstop, but obviously Owen Davian still hot and evil. One thing I did realize is that I have probably been overlooking just how strange it was for Owen to suddenly find himself on the floor of a Vatican bathroom being straddled and held at gunpoint by his doppelganger. Like that's such a great bit but imagine how confusing that would be! He handled it relatively well, considering.

It's funny—I'm not sure Phil played two characters more different than Davian and Truman Capote, but there are two very specific moves he makes in MI3 that are soooo reminiscent of Truman. They're just the slightest movements—a lean, a wave of his hand—but it's like he hasn't completely worked Capote out of his system yet lol.

Watched in 4K which is sooooo gorgeous. I'm gonna have to remake my whole MI3 scene pack because the quality of this version is stunning. The sweat pouring down Davian's neck, the spilled wine dripping from his chin, the spit flying out of his mouth when he's screaming at Ethan... Many people hate JJ's visual style but I don't mind all the movement too much, and it looked incredible in such high definition. Plus, as I said, hot and evil PSH—of course he will look so sexy in 4K as he does in any resolution.

#for the third time he is so hot and evil. there better be some pshredacted messages for me to publish when I wake up tomorrow.#monday philm #mission: impossible iii #philip seymour hoffman #psh #*#it's fun to reconcile how scary and intense and shout-y davian is vs. how much fun everyone says they had on set #like phil was goin crazyyyy when cameras were rolling but the rest of the time he was. just happy goofy phil :)#probably talkin about the yankees and his next kid on the way and shootin the shit with the crew. just a guy! I love him!!!#and tom really is the president of movies. he loves them so much you can't not smile hearing him fanboy over them. even his own!

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footnoteinhistory · 9 months

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Hiiii I’m movie blogging in your ask box again hiiii

Okay Mission Impossible III let’s get this out of the way: what a great villain. Totally sold the smug assurance that he’s one level above Ethan the whole movie. Loved his death too.

Besides Mr. Phil: Keeping us anxious about Julia + questioning what happened with the rabbit’s foot the whole movie was such a good framing device. I’m really getting attached to Luther as a recurring character. Tom Cruise kind of feels like he’s getting progressively less normal and more Tom-Cruise-y each M:I film. (for example, he’s starting to do more of the abnormal, ponderous face-muscle-tensing that defined Jerry Maguire for me)

Now with that out of the way: urgent: how greatly do you think reading American Prometheus first enhanced your experience of Oppenheimer? I saw your post about having gotten through it, naively thought “oh that sounds neat,” and now I’m realizing there’s twenty hours left in the (completely engrossing) audiobook and fewer than twenty hours before I planned to see the movie. I’m kinda thinking I’ll see the movie anyway, since going back to the book just means more details + filled gaps, but what do you think about how the book and movie do or don’t overlap?

Since MI3 is the only one I’ve seen, this makes me want to watch the rest to see Tom Cruise transform from somewhat normal to Tom Cruise™️!

I am very tired so I might add some more MI3 thoughts tomorrow but since this part is urgent: I’m definitely glad I read the book but I don’t think it’s required reading to grasp the film. I was also on a tight deadline re: reading vs. seeing the film so I skimmed quite a bit (the authors have a tendency to spend several paragraphs describing people we meet once and never again!) but I got enough that helped me better understand the film.

In general I sometimes struggle to Get what is happening from movie dialogue—for example, I think I watched MI3 two or three times before I could explain what it was actually About—so having an idea of what was happening thanks to American Prometheus helped me greatly. But if you’re quicker than I am (and apparently many people are because it is already a wildly successful blockbuster and I’d wager most people haven’t read it!), you should be fine.

My current reading list is far too imposing to go back to the book right now, having gotten what I needed and seen the film—but if I wasn’t so busy I would definitely revisit the book and take my time with it. A lot of details and fun/interesting stories that did not make it into the film (understandably) but illuminate Oppenheimer himself even more

#pepsinister #ask #ahhh Davian’s death. he was so powerful even Ethan Hunt couldn’t kill him. he cheated with that truck smh #we all know in a fair fight Owen is kicking ass!!!

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famouscenes8 · 2 months

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Watch "Tom Cruise | Owen Davian’s threats | Ethan hunt MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 2006" on YouTube

youtube

#Youtube

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itsalwaystomcruise · 1 year

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Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Frank T.J. Mackey and Phil Parma in Magnolia (1999), and as Ethan Hunt and Owen Davian in Mission: Impossible 3 (2006).

#tom cruise #tomcruiseedit #tcruiseedit #Philip Seymour Hoffman #magnolia #mission impossible 3 #capspam #*

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callmearcturus · 4 months

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@vmprsm replied to your post “i've never seen someone who hates MI3 more than...”:

I would sell a piece of my soul for you to rewrite mi3 so it's Good

i mean there is so little substance to MI3, I don't know if I would rewrite it at all or just create a wholecloth new MI in its place that introduces Julia and ends with Ethan retiring?

off the top of my head, I would maybe do an MI where the set-up occurs in a place where a Medecins Sans Frontieres organization happens to be set up, and Ethan is injured in the opening act, resulting in him meeting Julia when she elects to take care of him.

I'd give them Instant Chemistry-- I know from KKBB that Michelle Monaghan is very good at instantly endearing herself to an audience and being snarky and fun. Ethan meeting a hypercompetent, golden hearted, exceptionally snarky nurse and liking her from word go honestly works for me; it's well-established by the entire franchise that Ethan imprints on people fast, so what if he imprints on Julia and she's like "huh. you're p cute actually."

maybe while he's recovering, the Bad Guy Of The Movie tries to get Ethan killed so Ethan has to am-scray with Julia in tow just to keep her safe. She can tag along for the rest of the movie. I would position her as a voice of reason (similar to how Benji is used in GP) to have an outsider emphasize the IMF is fucked up and scary and to poke fun at it.

And in act two, I would have Ethan do his Batshit Stunt Of The Movie and after the audience gets a moment to ooh-and-ahh at the spectacle, Julia points out that this is an unreasonable way to live and tries to ensure Ethan is actually okay after. Which, if you fold into the usual The IMF Is Kinda The Bad Guy B-plot that's common in early MI movies, would set up a decent impetus for Ethan to consider leaving.

To service that theme of broken trust and the perils of self-sacrifice, I would have the Act Three reveal be that whatever the MacGuffin is, it's the US Government actually created it, and the mission is in part to cover up the Defense Secretary's huge blunder from becoming public. Ethan and Luther should have an angry debate over being tools to prevent a PR disaster with Luther successfully arguing "you're right but also we can't let the MacGuffin go off and hurt civilians"

follow that up directly with Julia sitting down next to a disillusioned Ethan and explaining that she joined the not-MSF because she wanted to do go and see it with her own eyes. and Ethan nodding along.

do the big climax where Ethan and the team save the day, but instead of getting on the plane back to America, Ethan asks Julia if he could stay for a while. end the movie on that moment, on Ethan leaving the IMF to Do Good that is tangible and in front of his eyes.

HELL WE CAN EVEN KEEP OWEN DAVIAN, but in this version, he's explicitly a former CIA spook who levied his international connections into a business as an arms dealer. make it extra tasty by having him originally being the CIA agent working with the Pentagon on the Dangerous MacGuffin and in that process getting disillusioned with the US govt, and deciding to sell the thing to a specific nation in the global south that the US is trying to manipulate the govt of. THAT would have some cronch to it.

anyway yeah maybe that's what i'd do if I could erase MI3 from the world's collective memory and do a new version. thematically this might be too similar to Rogue Nation buuuuut listen this is off the dome, okay.

#mission impossible

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