WhileMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Onemight have been a box office disappointment, it is hard to argue against the film as one of the best blockbusters of the year. TheMission: Impossiblefranchise is easily the best and most consistent ongoing saga; it’s hard to think of another franchise that manages to get better and better with each film. Brian De Palma’s 1996 classicMission: Impossibleis responsible for kicking off the series on a high note, and while John Woo’s attempt to make a more elaborate action spectacle inMission: Impossible IIwasn’t as successful, it’s been nothing but success for the saga ever since. Once he took over the series with 2015’sMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, writer and director Christopher McQuarrie introduced a more closely connected continuity that peered deeper into Ethan Hunt’s character than ever before.
While the entire series is a major achievement, 2006’sMission: Impossible IIIis a film that seems to be overlooked. The release of the third installment in the franchise was overshadowed by the controversy surroundingSouth Park’s parody episode about Tom Cruise and Tom Cruise’s movie star image taking a hit, which included a very major falling out with Paramount Pictures. Yet the movie was still a massive box-office achievement and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2006 worldwide. Here’s whyMission: Impossible IIIis the most underrated film in the entire action series.
Update July 06, 2025: This article has been updated with more reasons why Mission: Impossible III is an underrated entry in the franchise and deserves a second (and third) viewing.
J.J. Abrams Got the Franchise Into Shape
Mission: Impossible III
The firstMission: Impossiblefilm, even though it is a great film, is very much a De Palma film that adheres to the same noir style of filmmaking that he developed inBlow Out, Carrie,andThe Untouchables. Similarly, Woo’s style inMission: Impossible IIfelt closer in line with the type of over-the-top action movies he was known for making, such asFace/OffandBroken Arrow. While it was interesting to see the saga showcase different auteur filmmakers, it was J.J. Abrams who brought to his cinematic directorial debut the tone that the series adopted going forward.
While Abrams tends to get a lot of hate for the way that he handledStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, his work as a director truly deserves more credit; Abrams was able to revitalize both theStar TrekandStar Warsfranchiseswith energetic new installments and directed a charming tribute to Steven Spielberg with his 2011 science fiction adventure filmSuper 8. Abrams has a great way of mixing humor, action, suspense, and emotion in a way that perfectly fits summer blockbusters, and this became the definitive tone of theMission: Impossiblesaga. While the films aren’t as obsessed with making jokes as the entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they certainly aren’t humorless.
Mission: Impossible III Has the Saga’s Best Villain
Even though theMission: Impossiblesaga is far superior to the majority of the other franchises out there, one issue that has plagued the series since the very beginning has been thelack of memorable villains. Ethan Hunt is often referred to as a modern-day James Bond, yet theMission: Impossibleseries has never come up with antagonists that are nearly as memorable as Le Chiffre fromCasino Royale, Raoul Silva fromSkyfall, or Ernst Blofeld fromOn Your Majesty’s Secret Service.
The 5 Most Underrated Mission: Impossible Villains, Ranked
Although Mission: Impossible proved to be a high-quality film franchise, a consistent issue that the series has had is the lack of memorable villains.
The one exception to this rule has been Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s performance inMission: Impossible IIIas the exotic international arms dealer Owen Davian. TheMission: Impossiblesaga has always worked best when it has been able to combine realism and absurdity, and Hoffman does this perfectly. Even though the notion of a powerful billionaire selling deadly and illegal weapons to the highest bidder is a terrifying one, Hoffman brings a level of mischief that allows the movie to maintain the right tone.
Mission: Impossible III Makes It Personal
Mission: Impossible IIIis the first time that a villain finally disturbs Ethan on a personal level. The film opens with an electrifying sequence where Owen is threatening both Ethan and his future wife, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan). While Ethan’s antagonists have threatened his colleagues before, Owen is the first one to tread on his personal life. Owen uses terrifying torture devices to attack the couple, which only just manages to fit within the confines of a PG-13 rating. Julia and her fate would go on to become a very important story beat in the films moving forward, particularly in 2011’sMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
The Introduction of an Ensemble Into the Mission: Impossible Series
Although Ethan Hunt had female partners before (what happened to Thadiwe Newton’s character?), he was more of a lone wolf, and it was here that some of the better ingredients of the saga started consolidating themselves. This was the first movie where Hunt had a real team, not only the help of Luther (Ving Rhames), but also a couple of trained agents that would give their lives for him in Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and Zhen (Maggie Q), and a great, powerful agent in Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell). If all that wasn’t enough, let’s not forget this was where Simon Pegg’s Benji debuted when he was still a technician working in Langley.
Mission: Impossible IIIalso proved Tom Cruise’s character was better with a female companion and some dramatic stakes other than the world will end. As said before, this was the first time Julia appeared on-screen, and she continued to be a huge part of the dramatic arc of Ethan’s character, proving he had a heart and opening the door for more female characters that were important to him. All of them appear in more than one film, like Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) andGrace (Hayley Atwell), creating a much bigger universe where friends and foes from the past could come back, making every movie count.
These Are the Best J.J. Abrams Shows and Movies, Ranked
Different J.J. Abrams movies and TV shows have defined many major cultural moments, with some serious highs and disappointing lows.
In all, this movie created the foundations that made theMission: Impossiblefranchise into what we recognize it as today. From the crazy stunts to the team building and the female partners making Ethan Hunt a more sympathetic character, it’s all there inMission: Impossible III. He’s the one we’re still rooting for, and we can’t wait for his return inMission: Impossible - Dead 8,which is set to be released on May 23rd, 2025.
StreamMission: Impossible IIIon Netflix and Paramount+
