Despite the fact that it is a foregone conclusion that the good guys are going to win these movies are wonderfully entertaining. I would say spoiler alert but to be honest what is there to spoil in a film franchise that pretty much always ends the same? You know from the offset what the end result will be, it is just a question of the steps that are taken to achieve that end.
I have not seen the most recent Mission Impossible film because i live in a part of the world where the films are overdubbed in Thai, which i can understand but all the feeling is lost in the actors' voices when this happens and I hate it. I would rather wait to see it in its original form a year from now.
What makes all the Mission Impossible films great is the absurd situations that Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his team have to overcome - I am quite certain that nearly everyone on the planet is at least somewhat familiar with this being the case. In this film I particularly enjoyed the sequence where they have to break into the Vatican without being detected (and of course they aren't detected.)
Now, the main thing that make 3 the best for me is not the special affects or the crazy situations and stunts (which are great) but because of the performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman. This man is a truly amazing actor and despite the fact that he is far from being physically intimidating his delivery and his complete lack of empathy towards anyone is absolutely terrifying.
Hoffman plays the role of Owen Davian, a ruthless black-market dealer who fears no man, and even though he is threatened with death he doesn't crack under pressure. I never would have thought that producers would think of casting someone as small as Hoffman in the role of a primary villain, and when i found out he was going to be said villain i was apprehensive - but wow did he nail it.
The film didn't get terribly great critical review but to be honest that is really easy to understand seeing as how the critics tend to all but ignore blockbuster action films. I would imagine the people bankrolling it don't really give a damn though, seeing as how it pulled in $400 million from a $150 million budget.
I can't really give this film too high of marks because well, it is the usual Hollywood stuff. I just think it deserves extra credit for Hoffman's performance.