Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

Mission: Impossible III (also known as M:i:III) is a 2006 action film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The film was directed by J. J. Abrams, and was his first film as a director. It was first released on April 26, 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival, and widely released in the United States on May 5, 2006. Filming began in Rome, Italy in July 2005. The film had been kept under extremely tight wraps, and very little was known of its plots or new featured characters during filming. Location filming took place in China (Shanghai and Xitang), Germany (Berlin), Italy (Rome and Caserta), the United States (California and Virginia), and Vatican City.

The movie begins with a cold open, in which Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is told that someone has "planted an explosive charge in your head." This person (Philip Seymour Hoffman) then demands the location of an item known as "The Rabbit's Foot", threatening to kill a woman named Julia (Michelle Monaghan) after a count of ten if Ethan does not comply. Ethan, visibly distraught, attempts to bargain with his assailant, but does not succeed before Hoffman's character counts to ten. A smash cut then precedes the film's title card and opening credits. Six years after the events of Mission: Impossible II, Ethan has retired from being an IMF team leader, instead opting to train new IMF recruits and live quietly with his fiancée Julia, a hospital nurse who knows nothing of his life as a member of IMF. During their engagement party, Ethan is called upon by fellow IMF agent John Musgrave (Billy Crudup). Via the iconic self-destructing message, this one hidden in a disposable camera, Musgrave informs him that Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell), one of Ethan's protégés, has been captured in Berlin by Owen Davian (Hoffman), a prominent dealer in the international black market, and asks Ethan to lead the rescue effort. Ethan and his team, consisting of Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), and his old partner Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), infiltrates a stronghold in Berlin and extract Agent Farris and attempt to escape in a helicopter. Unfortunately, she had already been booby-trapped with a small explosive capsule injected into her head through the nose; Ethan discovers it and attempts to short it out with a defibrillator, but it detonates before he can. After Lindsey's funeral, Ethan is notified of a "package" sent to him by Lindsey, and discovers that it is a microdot hidden in a blank postcard. Ethan discusses its possible importance with Luther, who realises it is magnetic, and both decide to keep its existence a secret. With assistance from Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), an IMF laboratory technician, the information recovered from a laptop in the Berlin mission allows Ethan go after Davian himself, targeting him at a meeting in Vatican City, where a lucrative transaction involving a mysterious object, codenamed "The Rabbit's Foot", is apparently taking place. Neither of Ethan's superiors, directors Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) or Musgrave, have authorized the mission. Before leaving, Ethan reassures Julia of their relationship, and promptly marries her at the hospital in a small ceremony. The team then arrives in Rome and sets off their elaborate plan to abduct Davian. While it is successful, Davian remains confident that he will be able to revenge himself upon his captors, threatening to kill Julia, and manages to learn Ethan's name while being threatened with bodily expulsion from the plane. While transporting Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in a convoy, Luther hands Ethan a laptop computer and plays the video message from the decoded microdot: Lindsey thinks that Director Brassel is a mole, who has been leaking information to Davian about IMF operations. The video is interrupted by an explosion: Ethan and his team are being attacked by mercenaries, who deploy a UCAV drone as a distraction while they rescue Davian. Remembering Davian's threats to kill his wife, Ethan immediately rushes to the hospital where Julia works. He arrives moments too late and finds that Julia has already been abducted. At that moment of despair, Ethan receives a call from Davian with a proposition; he must retrieve the "Rabbit's Foot" within 48 hours, or Julia will be killed. Ethan, anxious to begin his mission to rescue his wife is abruptly taken into custody by the IMF on grounds of masterminding the ambush. He manages to escape with help from Musgrave, who intercepted Ethan's call from Davian, and instructs Ethan to go to Shanghai to find the Rabbit's Foot. In Shanghai, Ethan reunites with his team once more (who have been informed by Musgrave what's going on) and manages to infiltrate the heavily-guarded building containing the Rabbit's Foot. Ethan then meets Davian's people, surrendering both himself and the parcel. He wakes to learn an explosive capsule has been implanted in his head. The prologue scene plays out once again: Julia is bound to a chair and gagged with duct tape, and Davian threatens to kill her if he is not told the location of the Rabbit's Foot, which Ethan insists he has already delivered. Nonetheless, Davian counts to ten and executes Julia. After Davian leaves, Musgrave enters, revealing himself as the traitor and explains to a stunned Ethan that the entire situation is a massive "false flag" and sting operation. Davian will sell the Rabbit's Foot to known Middle Eastern enemies of the United States, knowledge of which will provide justification for a massive pre-emptive strike and an internationally-sanctioned hostile takeover of the region. He shows that the dead "Julia" is actually one of Davian's incompetent personnel (Bahar Soomekh), wearing a mask, used to make sure that Ethan had brought the real Rabbit's Foot; the real Julia is still alive. Ethan escapes by biting Musgrave's arm before attacking him and taking his phone, which is used to track down Julia's location, with help from Benji. Ethan finally finds Julia, tied to a chair, but before he can free her, Davian activates the bomb in Ethan's head. The result is an incapacitating noise in Ethan's head which hinders his ability to defend himself. Nonetheless, Ethan is able to best Davian in a savage fistfight, and then frees Julia. After jury-rigging a defibrillator using local electric equipment, he quickly teaches Julia how to shoot his handgun. Julia defibrillates Ethan, stopping both the explosive and his heart, after which Musgrave attacks her. After killing Musgrave, she successfully resuscitates Ethan with CPR, and the two walk out with the Rabbit's Foot as Ethan tells Julia the truth about his secret life. Back at headquarters, Ethan is congratulated for his heroic actions, and then leaves for his honeymoon with Julia, with the blessing of his applauding teammates and promises for another mission which the White House is keen to contact him about. Ethan isn't sure whether or not he's going to retire, but promises to think about it, and Brassel promises to tell him what the Rabbit's Foot really is if he does come back.