FFVP Review - A Sequel and a Remake: "MI III" and "Poseidon"

A Sequel and a Remake

The Sequel

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III - I imagine “Mission Impossible III” and “Poseidon” were released about a week apart so they wouldn’t go head to head for the weekend grosses. Both pictures have Blockbuster written all over them as if size and cost were the sole criteria for roping in an audience. The first is a sequel. The second, a redo. “Mission Impossible III” did not meet my expectations and “Poseidon” was actually better than I expected. The kicker is I didn’t expect much from either one.

First let me say: “I am a Tom Cruise fan!” Over the years I’ve loved watching him mature on the screen from the naïve kid of “Risky Business” to the disillusioned paraplegic Viet Nam Vet Ron Kovik in “Born on the Fourth of July.” Not withstanding the first “Mission Impossible” movie, I thought his two best action movies were the most provocative - “Minority Report” and “The Last Samurai.” The directors of these films - Oliver Stone, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, and Edward Zwick - are no slouches. This time Cruise entrusted the job to J. J. Abrams from TV’s “Alias.” “MI III” has all the tics that marked the few shows I’ve seen from the tight claustrophobic shots to the wobbly staccato jerks of the camera in the midst of a commotion Yet even when the bad guys are blowing up a bridge over the Chesapeake Bay in pursuit of Ethan Hunt, all the stunt work, careening cars and explosions come across as mechanical instead of something special. If “MI III” had come first in the franchise, it might have looked fresh. As it is it suffers from the law of diminishing returns. It has none of the heart of the first “Mission Impossible” and the action scenes lack the rythymn director John Woo instilled in “MI II.”

So what is there to REALLY like about “Mission Impossible III”? - The Villain! - Philip Seymour Hoffman.

“MI III”’s first few minutes are like the final minutes of a chapter in an old fashion cliffhanger. Hoffman’s sadistic Owen Davian has Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) all tied up with no place to go with an explosive set to go off in his head (Don’t ask) while persistently asking Hunt for a Rabbit’s Foot. Flash back to a party announcing Hunt’s engagement to a nurse who knows nothing of her Beau’s real occupation. One phone call and a lame excuse to leave later, Hunt is back in the field.

This time he has to try and rescue a damsel (Keri Russel) - I mean agent - in distress, find out who a traitor in his midst is, escape from his own MI compound, break into the Vatican, fly across skyscrapers in Shanghai, steal secret documents, rescue his kidnapped fiance, and find a doomsday MacGuffin belonging to Owen Davian the arms dealer who happens to be the guy who is ready to kill Hunt from the get go. Davian is an international arms dealer looking to sell his Rabbit’s Foot to the highest bidder in the world of international intrigue. The Foot could be gas, or bug, or some poisonous microbe. But a MacGuffin by any other name is still a MacGuffin - something to drive the plot forward.

A competent cast keeps things going in the middle of all the movie’s technical diversions. Lawrence Fishburne is the boss of bosses who oversees the MI units’ worldwide operations; Billy Crudup is Hunt’s handler blocking tackle for him back at the office; Michelle Monaghan is Hunt’s bride to be; and Hunt’s crew is made up of Ving Rhames reprising his role as back up man Luther and Johnathan Rhys Meyers as his techie getaway driver. Then of course there’s the recent Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. His Owen Davian is as bad as they come, pure evil with a sneer, a smirk, and a smile to match every mood. He’s the movie’s Richard III forever on a power trip with a back up plan for every occasion - except of course - his final run in with Hunt.

The following movies cover the same thematic territory as “MI III”

“The Satan Bug” (1965) - John Sturges, who made “The Great Eascpe” directs this taut thriller about the theft of a lethal virus from a top secret lab. The script is by Shogun author James Clavell, and Edward Anhalt.

“Panic in the Streets” (1950) - Elia Kazan directed this suspense thriller about the search for a plague carrier in New Orleans. From a story co-written by Edward Anhalt.

“The Peacemaker” (1990) - This time George Clooney and Nicole Kidman have to find a terrorist with a missing nuclear warhead before it goes off in New York. More prescient today after 9/11 than when first released.

“The Sum of all Fears” (2002) - Ben Affleck replaces Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford as a younger gentler CIA Agent Jack Ryan from the Tom Clancy novels in this thriller about a plot to start a war between Russia and the U.S. through nuclear terror. No matter what you think of the movie as a whole, the end is still truly scary when you consider it was released less than a year after 9/11.

The Remake

POSEIDON - Director Wolfgang Petersen made his reputation with the internationally acclaimed WWII submarine epic “Das Boot” aka “The Boat” about life on a German U-Boat fighting the Allies and the elements. He also made “The Perfect Storm” about a fishing boat whose crew members fight with each other and - the elements. And the primary element? Water!

Peterson’s back in his home turf with this solid effects laden remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” about an ocean liner that capsizes when hit by a tidal wave. What’s up is down and what’s down is up. A handful of survivors have to go up to the bottom of the ship to find their way out into the open air. The big difference between the old and the new is software.

I haven’t seen the original from beginning to end in a long time even though it runs repeatedly on any one of several movie cable channels. I imagine it looks less artificial than it’s modern day digital disaster equivalent. This would be owing to the talents of its producer Irwin Allen who created a cottage industry out of disaster movies. His “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” about a futuristic submarine movie spawned a hit TV series. In all these films, water is as much a character as the actors. And if anything, the sole purpose of putting actors in a film of this nature is to take us through the ship as if it were a ride at an amusement park. The three principal guides for this trip are played by Josh Lucas as an ex navy - slash - gambling man, Kurt Russell as an ex fireman/mayor of New York (an interesting combo) who is also a gambling man and Richard Dreyfuss as a rich suicidal businessman who finds meaning in his life in saving others..

The subplots motivate some of the characters to action and others to inaction. Dreyfuss is given the heave ho by a lover. A mother and son win the heart and soul of a hardened Lucas, the fireman’s daughter is secretly engaged to a guy Russell doesn’t like etc. etc. etc. But their stories are secondary to the effects.

Sequel and remake redux

It might seem odd to have coupled “Mission Impossible III” with “Poseidon” but I was struck by the contrast in the use of special effects. In “MI III” they are used to enhance or flesh out the story while in “Poseidon” they are the story. In the former they are under the control of the characters who dictate the action. In the latter the effects dictate the action of the characters in much the same way the elements control the fates of the men in Wolfgang Peterson’s two other water logged movies “Das Boot” (1981) and “The Perfect Storm” (2000)