Finally got around to watching this the other day. I've avoided it, primarily because the bad taste MI2 left in my mouth. I couldn't stand the Tom Cruise love-in that was the second one, with its unnecessarily long slow motion sequences - ooh look at me, i'm tom, i'm so great! shudder... Thankfully the third installment is a return to form, and is vastly superior to its egomaniacal predecessor. I'd probably buy 1 and 3, but avoid 2 at all costs.

This one was quite good, story was pretty good, and even though it still focuses on Cruises lead character, there are plenty of subsidiary characters that contribute during the course of the story. Even though the plot was cribbed from True Lies, the new wife and life aspects of the story are relatively minor. It mostly centers around the recovery of the stories McGuffin device - the rabbit foot. Amusingly enough, its never even explained what the device is or why people want it. Worth a rent.

Plot Synopsis:

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has retired from active duty in the IMF and now works as a trainer. He's recently gotten engaged to Julia, a nurse at the local hospital who is unaware what he really does - she thinks he works on modeling traffic patterns for the Transportation Authority. When he is asked to go on a mission to Germany to recover one of his trainees that went missing, he makes up an excuse and reactivates his team. Traveling to Germany, they recover the captured operative, only to have her die during their escape from an explosive device implanted in her brain.

Back at IMF headquarters they are berated about their lack of success. Hunt uncovers information that pinpoints the location of the man responsible for the death of the trainee. His team heads off to the Vatican. They infiltrate the papal city, and capture Owen Davian, substituting Ethan in disguise. They make their escape and attempt to interrogate Davian without success. Back in the US, the convoy transporting Davian is attacked, and he escapes after a shootout on a bridge. Davian has vowed revenge on Hunt and anyone he cares about.

Shortly after, Julie is kidnapped from the hospital. Ethan escapes custody from IMF who are unsure about his involvement with Davian. Davian instructs him to recover the rabbits foot from Shanghai or he will kill Julie. In secret, Ethan's team infiltrate the building in Shanghai and steal the rabbits foot from a research lab.

Taking the cannister to Davian, Ethan is captured and interrogated. Julie is killed during the process. It is then revealed that Ethan's handler at IMF has been working with Davian. He orchestrated the capture of the trainee, to determine how much she knew. He then planted false evidence to mislead Ethan into thinking that the head of IMF was the mole. Julie's death had been faked. Ethan escapes custody, and goes after Davian. He locates her and after killing a number of henchmen and Davian, he is forced to electrocute himself to destroy the exploding implant Davian installed in his brain. Luckily Julie is able to restart his heart. And the ending is left open for yet another eventual sequel.