I put a bomb in your brain! If you don’t do what I say I’ll kill you!

It’s with those words (slightly paraphrased) that we begin the third chapter in the Mission: Impossible series. Before I discuss the newest chapter, I should offer some perspective of what I’ve thought of the series until now.

Mission Impossible 1: This was a decent flick for me. It was nothing to write home about, really. The action was fun, but the plot was too convoluted to really enjoy. I always viewed it as an above average action film that I’d recommend as a rental, but not much more.

Mission Impossible 2: Wow. Apparently John Woo just decided to mail this one in. This movie sucks. Bad. This movie is like someone is doing a really bad John Woo impression.

This brings us to:

Mission Impossible 3: Scientologists on a Plane.

First and foremost, I have to confess that I’m a J.J. Abrams fan. I love “Lost” and I really dug the first couple seasons of “Alias”. So I was fully ready to cut the guy some slack in his feature film debut. It turns out I didn’t need to. This movie is everything a Mission Impossible movie should be.

Abrams keeps the plot clear and realizes that the draw of these movies is the action set pieces. This isn’t high art. It’s entertainment. You can tell that Abrams has been brewing for years about certain things he’d want to do in an action film because he offers a few moments that really felt fresh and new (Tom Cruise getting blown into a car from the trailer being a great example).

My favorite change from the previous installments is the way the rest of Ethan Hunts team has had their roles beefed up. It’s not just Tom Cruise running all over the globe by himself, he’s got a supporting cast to help him accomplish everything. The casting of this group works quite well. Ving Rames returns again and is cool as ever, and this time they are joined by John Rhys Meyers (Velvet Goldmine, Match Point), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, MasterCard Commercials), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), and Maggie Q (Rush Hour 2). It’s really the roles of these characters that keep you from wanting to see Tom Cruise die a horrible death. I actually have to give a shout out to Keri Russell. I never used to like her much, but she handles the action thing quite well. I was impressed.

The real shining character in this flick is Phillip Seymour Hoffman. I should warn you that he’s only in the film a total of 20 minutes tops. But he’s f’n awesome. The thing I really like about him is that he’s the anti-bond villain. He doesn’t sit there and mess around with lengthy monologues. He knows what he wants from you, and he’ll do whatever he needs to in order to get it. If you still won’t give it up he won’t hesitate to shoot you in the head. His character always seemed to be 3 steps ahead of the IMF at all times. He didn’t really look at Ethan Hunt as a nemesis or a rival. He simply saw him as someone who was in his way…a nuisance.

I also have to give a shout out to Michelle Monaghan. I've loved her since "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and I have to throw her some love here. By the way, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang finally hits DVD in June.

Overall, Mission Impossible 3 is a great summer flick. It won’t win any awards, but it’s not trying to either. The only thing it tries to do is be thoroughly entertaining for 2 hours and 6 minutes, and it does a great job of it.