A Look Back at “Mission: Impossible 3” and “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol”

 Last week, I started up my “Mission: Impossible” series revisit, which will be leading up to my review of “Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.” Now, while the first movie (released nearly 30 years ago) was a decent spy/espionage thriller, the 2000 sequel definitely lacked the excitement and suspense. Now, let’s march on with the next two installments of the series - “Mission: Impossible III” and “Ghost Protocol.”

In the 2006 sequel “Mission: Impossible III,” retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who is as cunning as he is ruthless.

Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear - including the woman Hunt loves.

For the third “Mission” of this franchise, I must say it’s a major improvement of the 2000 sequel for sure! “Mission: Impossible III” dives more into the action and delivers us some amazing stunt work and incredible visual effects.

Throughout this sequel, we get to see some great action sequences that can get any die hard action fan’s adrenaline really pumping. Now, while there are quite a few action/chase scenes to talk about in this entry, the most memorable sequence is the helicopter/chase scene on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

During that tense sequence, we see a missile fired from a helicopter while trying to take Ethan Hunt out. This entire scene may be a little long, but it’s incredibly well shot and is probably the most memorable sequence of the third movie.

This sequel also gives us a really compelling villain (played by the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman), who, at this point in the franchise, is the best villain. The movie also adds a little romantic interest subplot with Hunt, which also adds emotional weight to the story.

In the 2011 sequel, “Ghost Protocol,” blamed for a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, Ethan

Hunt and the entire IMF agency are disavowed by the US government, while the president initiates the Ghost Protocol.

Forced to go “off the grid” - left without resources or backup - Hunt must somehow clear the agency’s name and prevent another attack.

Complicating matters even more, Ethan must undertake the impossible mission with a group of fellow IMF fugitives whose actual motives are suspect.

The fourth “Mission” of the series, “Ghost Protocol,” is where things start to really pick up. This installment delivers many gripping set pieces and a lot of amazing fast-paced action.

“Ghost Protocol” has an exciting story, which involves Hunt and his team going rogue to find a terrorist who seeks to initiate nuclear war to achieve a new stage of human evolution. Now, while this movie’s villain isn’t nearly as compelling as the previous villain, the engaging plot involving the villain makes up for it.

This movie also features more incredible action and astounding stunts, especially the Burj Khalifa sequence where Ethan Hunt has to climb up the building on the outside. I remember watching that sequence in theaters when the movie came out and it was really exhilarating. And, that scene is still as exhilarating as it appeared on the big screen!

In between all of the intense action, we get some humorous comic relief from actor Simon Pegg and a few humorous bits from actor Jeremy Renner, whose character was initially considered to be a potential successor to Tom Cruise should he decide to step away from the franchise.

Like I stated in the previous review, you can currently stream the entire “Mission: Impossible” series on Paramount Plus and catch “The Final Reckoning” on the big screen.

Make sure to catch the rest of my “Mission: Impossible” review series in the 6/4 edition!