Line #80 Film/MissionImpossibleIII


1	! Spoilers for all preceding ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'', including ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' may be left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
2	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mi3.png]]
3	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[SequelGap "Welcome back, brother."]]'']]
4	->''"You have a wife, girlfriend? Because you know what I'm gonna do next? I'm gonna find her, whoever she is, I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her. I'm gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name, and you're not going to be able to do shit, you know why? 'Cause you're gonna be this close to dead. And then I'm gonna kill you right in front of her."''
5	-->--'''Owen Davian'''
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7	''Mission: Impossible III'' is a 2006 American {{action\|Genre}} {{spy\|Fiction}} {{thriller}} film and the third film in the ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' film series starring Creator/TomCruise as Ethan Hunt.
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9	Ethan is in semi-retirement, only training new agents, and is engaged to Julia Meade (Creator/MichelleMonaghan), a nurse who thinks he works for the Virginia Department of Transportation. He is convinced to come out of retirement when he learns that one of his students Lindsey Farris (Creator/KeriRussell) has been captured. After the simultaneous success and failure of that mission, he takes over the student's case: tracking down the whereabouts of an elusive arms dealer named Owen Davian (Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman), who is looking for an unspecified item known as the "[[MacGuffin Rabbit's Foot]]."
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11	The film also stars Creator/VingRhames as Luther Stickell, Creator/BillyCrudup as John Musgrave, Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers as Declan Gormley, Creator/MaggieQ as Zhen Lei and Creator/LaurenceFishburne as Theodore Brassel.
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13	The big-screen directing debut of Creator/JJAbrams (who also co-scripted and did a bit of digital work), this film falls back to cloak-and-dagger tricks, with the action being more through time-frame constrictions or compromised missions, and even takes time to develop its characters. Though not intended to be so, it's also a SoftReboot of the film canon -- it's worth noting that the next film, ''Ghost Protocol'', ''doubles'' the number of reappearing characters -- which might explain why Abrams has since been entrusted with relaunching [[Film/StarTrek2009 two more]] [[Film/TheForceAwakens major franchises]].
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15	Followed by ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol.''
16	----
17	!!This film provides examples of:
18	* AcrophobicBird: Ethan's team in a Huey helicopter try to evade a Cobra gunship by flying through a wind turbine farm. For some reason the Cobra doesn't fly above the farm and fire its missiles (which are heat-seaking) down at them[[note]]There is a minor, but unspoken, justification in that heat-seeking missiles specifically target engines, and that the engines on a Huey are best targeted from behind and not above, but there's no reason why the Cobra couldn't just wait until ''after'' the wind farm to engage[[/note]] -- but then if it did that we wouldn't have a cool scene of the Huey flying ''between'' the spinning turbine blades and the Cobra being smashed when it decides to TryAndFollow.
19	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Right after the rooftop-swing stunt, the film cuts away from Ethan's escapades and instead focuses on two of his team members waiting in tense silence for Ethan to finish escapading.
20	* ActionPrologue: The film immediately opens with Davian threatening to shoot Julia if Ethan doesn't provide the genuine Rabbit's Foot. [[AnachronicOrder This scene occurs more than two thirds of the way into the plot.]]
21	* AirVentPassageway: Ethan escapes the IMF headquarters via an air vent. The vent Ethan crawls out of is in a room with pamphlets for the Virginia Department Of Transportation, his cover job.
22	* AndStarring: The opening cast roll ends with "and Creator/LaurenceFishburne".
23	* ArmsDealer: Owen Davian. His day job is hooking up terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, and his night job is exuding sociopathic menace. Even when captured, bound, and faced with death, he remains [[DissonantSerenity preternaturally calm]] and merely rattles off all the ways he will torture the hero's loved ones ''when'' he gets free. The only time he shows a hint of fondness is when he aloofly recalls cruelly murdering one of the hero's partners ("That was nothing, that was... ''fun''. That was fun."). His chilling detachment is enhanced by the fact that he has [[https://web.archive.org/web/20071021101950/http://www.reverseshot.com/article/mi3 no backstory or any humanizing moments whatsoever]].
24	* AsYouKnow: Ethan tells Luther that Lindsay's magnetic microdot should be encrypted, and Luther takes mild umbrage. This both shows Ethan's agitation and conveys (made up) technical info to the audience. Strangely enough, the scene doesn't explain what a microdot ''itself'' is, and lets us infer that it's ''usually'' a tiny dot that hides messages and images.
25	-->"Magnetic means encrypted..."
26	-->"[[TheSmartGuy Yeah]], [[CaptainObvious I know that]]."
27	* BackAlleyDoctor: PlayedWith. In the climax, Ethan Hunt pursues the villains down a back alley and into a house which to his surprise turns out to be a medical office (presumably unlicensed). Unlike other examples of this trope the hospital is neat and well-equipped.
28	* BadassBoast:
29	-->'''Theodore Brassel:''' ''[looking down at Ethan from atop]'' Now I am not a stranger to disrespect, you don't get to where I am without developing a thick skin. But what I won't stand for. What I will lose sleep over -- and I love my sleep -- is the idea of an irresponsible, rogue Agent working in my office. So I'm going to slow things way down here. ''[draws his face nearer]'' You can look at me with those judgemental, incriminating eyes all you want, but I bullshit you not. I will bleed on the flag to make sure the stripes stay red.
30	* BashBrothers: Once Ethan brings Farris back up to cognitive shape using adrenaline in a syringe, they proceed to fight off the opposition in this manner (including Farris reloading Ethan's gun for him without any vocal communication).
31	* BerserkButton: Ethan attempts to get Davian to divulge information in a cool and collected manner, but when Davian repeatedly promises to harm whoever Ethan loves, it's enough for him to go into a rage and try a HighAltitudeInterrogation.
32	* {{BFG}}: The G36 used by Ethan is treated like one despite a fairly ordinary assault rifle in real-life by shooting down the drone on its attack run like an anti-air gun using most of its ammo. Oddly averted moments later when Ethan fires on Davian's helicopter and causes zero damage with the last few rounds despite a slower and bigger target.
33	* BigBad: Davian is the main antagonist throughout the film, though it turns out that [[spoiler:he's in a BigBadDuumvirate with Musgrave]].
34	* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Musgrave, another IMF veteran and friend to Ethan, who teams up with Owen Davian to find the "Rabbit's Foot"]].
35	* BigHeroicRun: One of the most impressive examples ever, explicitly stated to be over a mile and done rather close to RealTime (he is running for several minutes).
36	* BlackTieInfiltration: Hunt's team infiltrate an event at an Italian palace in order to abduct Davian.
37	* BlofeldPloy: [[spoiler:The film opens with Davian appearing to kill Ethan Hunt's wife. It is revealed that, again courtesy of LatexPerfection, the woman he shot was his translator who failed him earlier in the film. It turned out she was also his security chief, so the fact that he was kidnapped when she was right there with him obviously made him rather upset with her]].
38	* BondOneLiner: [[spoiler:"Now I'm out." after killing a {{mook}} with his last bullet.]]
39	* BriefAccentImitation: The movie reprises the little throat patches that are able to alter their voice into the voice of whoever they are imitating through LatexPerfection, and shows how both are made. [[https://literalminded.wordpress.com/2006/05/05/a-panphonic-poem-for-mission-impossible-3/ The filmmakers contacted a linguistics professor and had him write a poem that included every English phoneme.]] The target recites the poem into a recording device, which then builds a "voice mask" for the imitating agent. [[MST3KMantra The professor noted how unrealistic this is, but admits it didn't detract much from the film.]]
40	* BuildingSwing: Used to transport Ethan Hunt to an adjacent roof. Surprisingly realistic, in that the rope was (apparently) properly anchored, and the swing was the equivalent of a human pendulum.
41	* CameraSpoofing: The classic "Polaroid Punk" version, with a printed picture in front of the lens.
42	* CasualDangerDialogue: There isn’t a lot of immediate danger but during Ethan’s solo infiltration to rescue Farris, his sitreps to Luther are interspersed with Luther questioning where his relationship with Julia is headed.
43	* CharacterDevelopment: As the film broadens its focus beyond the mission at hand to include Ethan's personal life, Ethan is a far more rounded (and motivated) character here than in the previous films. Luther gets a little of this too; rather than just another appearance as one of Ethan's agents, his genuine friendship with Ethan is central to his role in the movie.
44	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The "brain bomb" countdown used in the first act lets us know about how long Ethan has in the third act.]]
45	* ChekhovsSkill: A long-term example -- Ethan's ability to lip read and his wife's training as a nurse come in handy near the end of the film.
46	* ChewOutFakeOut:
47	** Ethan has been brought into HQ because his superiors think he's gone rogue (he's really trying to save Julia, who has been kidnapped by Davian). As he's lying immobilized, Musgrave begins chastising him (for the benefit of those listening in), while simultaneously mouthing an escape plan, knowing that Ethan can read lips.
48	** Earlier in the film, Musgrave goes to inform Brassel that Ethan's team has successfully captured Owen Davian at the Vatican, a mission they did behind Brassel's back as they were still in his doghouse from the Farris mission.
49	--->'''Brassel''': ''[sternly]'' You were aware of this operation?
50	--->'''Musgrave''': ''[defiant]'' Yes I was.
51	--->'''Brassel''': ''[beat]'' Then, good work.
52	* ContinuityNod: When discussing stealing the Rabbit's Foot, Luther mentions the security makes [[Film/MissionImpossible1996 Langley]] look like a cakewalk.
53	* ContrivedClumsiness: An accidental-on-purpose spill is used to force a kidnapping victim into the bathroom, where he can be abducted through the vents.
54	* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: Ethan claims to work for the Virginia Department of Transportation. (Later, when he escapes from IMF headquarters, it's implied that their base actually ''is'' hidden behind VDOT.)
55	* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: [[spoiler:Ethan receives CPR from Julia after electrocuting himself, complete with dramatic punching of the chest. The electrocution was necessary in order to fry the mini-bomb implanted in his skull.]]
56	* CreditsGag: The last company who gets thanked in the credits is the Hanso Foundation from ''{{Series/Lost}}''.
57	* CuttingTheKnot: The third mission has most everything set up as typical cloak-and-dagger style, but Ethan didn't have time to plan out a more complex escape method and so he just had to fight his way out.
58	* DarkerAndEdgier: As a whole ''III'' has a grittier action style than the previous two films. The violence is more raw and brutal with significantly less of the stylish flair that ''II'' went for (the opening interrogation and [[spoiler:Farris' death]] being key tone-setters). For Ethan's part his breaking point is tested in ways that had not been shown previously when people he cares about are harmed and threatened, with the personal stakes adding a human depth to his character that normally lives beneath the veil of a detached IMF operative.
59	* DeadpanSnarker: Brassel.
60	-->'''Ethan''': Mr. Brassel, it is unacceptable to judge Agent Farris' competence through--
61	-->'''Brassel''': It is unacceptable that chocolate makes you fat, but I've eaten my share, and guess what?
62	* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler: Creator/KeriRussell is introduced as a protege of Ethan and is then killed off immediately after one scene when a micro-explosive in her head detonates.]]
63	* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Farris]], as a result of the [[spoiler:explosive charge going off]]. Also includes a hefty dose of NightmareFuel and EyeScream.
64	* DisguisedHostageGambit: A grim variant occurs when Julia is apparently executed by Davian at the climax. We later learn that the victim was really [[spoiler:Davian's female mook dressed up like Julia, with her mouth taped shut to prevent her from revealing the ruse]].
65	* DistressedDude: Happens at the end, after Ethan electrocutes himself to short out the bomb in his head (yes, really), Julia has to revive him, but before doing so has to take out Davian and his mooks all by her lonesome while the hero lies prone and unconscious.
66	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[spoiler: Lindsey's death.]] Ethan attempts to use a defibrillator to disarm the bomb in her head, however the defibrillator only finishes charging seconds after the bomb goes off and kills her. When fully charged, the defibrillator emits a single, constant beep, clearly meant to imitate the sound of a heart rate monitor flatline.
67	* TheDragon: Davian turns out to be this to [[spoiler: Musgrave.]]
68	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Davian is killed very suddenly in the final fight by a speeding truck crushing his head. Deliberately done as Creator/JJAbrams felt that Ethan trying to save his wife and himself was the bigger conflict.]]
69	* ElevatorActionSequence: Ethan Hunt, after being slipped a pocket knife, waits until his restraining gurney enters an elevator to make his escape. He disables three guards, one with a telephone, while still strapped to his stretcher.
70	* EvilCounterpart: The bad guys here seem to have all the resources and tech IMF has. [[spoiler:Presumably because Musgrave is supplying or at least helping them, though they ''are'' high-class arms dealers...]]
71	* ExplosiveLeash: The first words spoken are: "We put an explosive charge in your head." (unless Ethan screaming in pain counts as a word).
72	* FakeKillScare: Ethan and Julia are duct-taped to chairs by Davian. The wife is gagged. Davian threatens to kill Julia in ten seconds unless Ethan tells him where he put the Rabbit's Foot. Ethan tells him he gave him the Rabbit's Foot already. Davian counts down, with Ethan desperately trying to convince him that he already did what Davian wanted. Davian shoots Julia in the knee at one point, which makes Ethan scream IllKillYou, but he still insists he handed over the Rabbit's Foot. When he reaches zero, Davian shoots Julia and leaves. [[spoiler:Then Musgrave shows up and pulls an [[LatexPerfection mask]] off the dead Julia, who turns out to be Davian's security chief. The entire scene was actually a SecretTestOfCharacter by Davian, and a YouHaveFailedMe for the security chief.]]
73	* FakeOutOpening: Double subverted. [[spoiler:Julia does die as depicted in the opening when the scene is repeated before the climax; however, as it turns out, that was Davian's security chief wearing a latex mask resembling Julia's head, and the real Julia is still alive somewhere. It was Davian's translator and head of security who was being [[YouHaveFailedMe punished for failing him]] in the Vatican City]].
74	* FinalBattle: Ethan fighting Davian to rescue Julia. Julia also has to fend off a few enemies before reviving Ethan after he is shocked unconscious.
75	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
76	** Brassel's very first scene establishes him as an intelligent, driven man. [[spoiler:So why on Earth would he contact Davian from the computer ''in his own office''? The movie deliberately interrupts both Ethan and the audience before they have time to think about it.]]
77	** Davian calls Ethan and tells him to find the Rabbit's Foot in exchange for Julia's life. Shortly afterwards, Ethan is arrested by the IMF, who think he's gone rogue. [[spoiler:Brassel, ostensibly the mole, orders Ethan put into a holding cell, exactly what Davian wouldn't want since he needs Ethan free to get the Rabbit's Foot. Musgrave, however, aids in Ethan's escape.]]
78	* HeWentThatWay: Played with; Ethan is chasing down the villains, and an elderly Chinese man wordlessly points in the direction they went. However it turns out he's walked into an unlicensed hospital, and the man just assumed from Ethan's battered appearance that he had come in for treatment. Fortunately the villains have also gone to the hospital.
79	* HighAltitudeInterrogation: In an airplane, after Ethan's initial interrogation of Davian fails, he opens a hatch in the floor and hangs his hostage down the hatch such that he feels the massive winds in his face, meanwhile cutting the zips holding him in his seat. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Davian doesn't crack]] and, worse, he learns Ethan's name from the others shouting at him to stop.]]
80	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Davian has Ethan confirm that the Rabbit's Foot is real by using the LatexPerfection Ethan has used throughout the series to threaten and kill "Jules".]]
81	* HowWeGotHere: The film begins with Ethan and Julia held hostage by Davian, who threatens Ethan to know where the Rabbit’s Foot is or he will kill Julia. The rest of the movie shows how Ethan and Julia end up in this predicament. [[spoiler: Davian did kill "Julia", but she is actually his head of security, the real Julia however is held hostage in a similar building one mile away.]]
82	* IKEAWeaponry: A problem of this trope is shown — what if you need the weapon in a hurry? When his VulnerableConvoy comes under attack, Ethan has to retrieve a suitcase containing a G36 assault rifle from a crashed vehicle, and assemble it while a missile-armed Predator drone is closing in on them.
83	* ImprovisedLockpick: Ethan escapes from the chair he was strapped to at the start of the film by disassembling a pen and using it to pick the handcuffs holding him.
84	* IndyPloy: Offscreen, but when Ethan goes to retrieve the Rabbit's Foot, we hear over the frequency that he needs pickup ASAP. In the commentary, Cruise and Abrams noted that the audience has seen that sort of thing twice already[[note]]And, technically, in this film as well, if you count kidnapping Davian[[/note]] so they didn't need to show it.
85	-->'''Ethan''': LOOKUPLOOKUPLOOKUP! quick pan to Ethan hurtling out of a skyscraper window
86	* InMediasRes: Combined with HowWeGotHere, the opening sequence of the third movie is one of the best scenes of the series. Note the subversion of the ActionPrologue. No stunts, no explosions, and two or less gunshots, but the tension is ''higher'' than comparable scenes in most other movies.
87	* InstantSedation: Julia is kidnapped by a stranger who casually places a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdermal_patch transdermal patch]] the width of a ''pencil eraser'' onto the back of her hand between her thumb and forefinger. She barely has enough time to ask what the stupid thing is before she drops like a sack of potatoes.
88	* ItsGoingDown: A modern windmill gets blown up by a guided missile. It's as close to burned down as makes no difference.
89	* ItsPersonal: After Davian is abducted, he invokes this once he learns of Ethan's identity.
90	* JitterCam: The camera jitters around quite a bit in action scenes and at few other tense moments, but stays still otherwise.
91	* LatexPerfection: [[TechnologyPorn Made more realistic and time-consuming]] than its predecessors, leaving us to wonder what happened to the technology.
92	* LikeBrotherAndSister: After Lindsey's death, Luther notices how upset Ethan is about it and asks him whether something was going on between the two of them. Ethan negates and tells him that she was like a little sister for him.
93	* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: [[spoiler:Owen Davian]] apparently loses a shoe after getting run over by a truck.
94	* MacGuffin: The "Rabbit's Foot" is a classical [=MacGuffin=], {{lampshaded}} by the fact that nobody will ever tell Ethan what it actually is or does, although Benji's cryptic speculation is almost better than a briefing. The only clue is a biohazard label.
95	-->''It's interesting -- I used to have this professor at Oxford, okay? Doctor Wickham, his name was and he was, like, this massive fat guy, you know? Huge, big guy. We used to call him -- you know, well, I won't tell you what we used to call him. But he taught biomolecular kinetics and cellular dynamics. And he used to sort of scare the underclassmen with this story about how the world would eventually be eviscerated by technology. You see, it was inevitable that a compound would be created which he referred to as '[[http://movieclips.com/gZeX-mission-impossible-3-movie-the-anti-god/ the Anti-God]].' It was like an accelerated mutator or sort of, you know, like a, an unstoppable force of destructive power, that would just lay waste to everything -- to buildings and parks and streets and children and ice cream parlors, you know? So whenever I see, like, a rogue organization willing to spend this amount of money on a mystery tech, I always assume... it's the Anti-God. End-of-the-world kinda stuff, you know. ...But no, I don't have any idea what it is. I was just speculating.''
96	* MagicalDefibrillator:
97	** They need to use a defibrillator to shock someone in an attempt to overload the electronics inside an explosive pill (which has apparently been implanted in the person's head -- but the shock from the defibrillator, applied correctly, should not pass through the head at all!), but fail because the defibrillator (which, it should be reminded, is a tool that might be needed at a moment's notice) has a warmup time (with large-font countdown), which just so happens to be a few seconds longer than it takes for the pill to go off. To add to the defibrillator magic, a character acknowledges that shocking someone like that ''will'' stop her heart. TheHero responds that he'll just use it again to restart it.
98	-->'''Luther:''' If you zap her like that you'll stop her heart!\
99	'''Ethan:''' Then I'll zap her again and bring her back!
100	** Later on in the movie, [[spoiler: Ethan jerryrigs a defibrillator out of some live wires to short out the implant in his own ''head''. However, this time, he seems to know that a defibrillator will stop his heart, asking Julia (a nurse) to bring him back, before shocking himself. She does so, with some passable CPR and a few precordial thumps.]]
101	* MandatoryUnretirement: The film begins with Ethan Hunt retired from field duty and working only as an instructor, all ready to settle down and start a family.
102	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Davian would have likely not known the identity of his kidnapper had Luther not called Ethan by name. [[spoiler: Unless of course TheMole had him completely briefed on Ethan's team.]]
103	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[BigBad Davian]] spends most of the final battle delivering one to Ethan [[spoiler: due to the charge being activated in his head]]. Moments later, Ethan delivers one right back to Davian.
104	* NothingIsScarier: An interesting example with the "Rabbit's Foot", the focus of the movie. It's debated about what it might be (primarily by Benji), and when retrieved, it's rather clearly marked with a biohazard sign along the side of its container... but the movie never goes into its specific purpose or effects. If anything, that uncertainty coupled with the degree to which Davian wants it makes it all the more scary.
105	* OfficiallyShortenedTitle: Posters shortened the title to "''M:i:III''". As a result, Creator/StephenColbert made a RunningGag out of pronouncing it "Meeeeeeeeee".
106	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We only see the aftermath of Ethan stealing the Rabbits' Foot, and not the actual theft itself, although we do see part of the infiltration.
107	* OhCrap: Ethan after crash-landing into an office only for the parachute to re-engage and suck him back out into a freefall.
108	* OneBulletLeft: In the rescue mission that opens the third film, Ethan and Farris have nearly escaped with only one Mook in front. Farris asks Ethan how much ammo he has left, to which he responds with "[[PreMortemOneLiner Enough.]]" He then fires a single round that knocks the Mook out the window, to which Ethan then discards his weapon.
109	-->'''Ethan''': [[BondOneLiner Now I'm out.]]
110	* OutrunTheFireball: When Hunt gets a weapon out of a vehicle, then attempts to run clear of the car. When the car explodes, he is blown ''sideways'' by the blast, directly into another car.
111	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For all that the movie makes him out to be an obstruction and a detriment to Ethan's work, ''Brassell'' is entirely reasonable in his job: he takes reasonable actions to resolve the situations he is presented with, and treats his subordinates well. He only turns on Ethan when he is presented with seemingly concrete evidence that Ethan has gone off the reservation, and [[spoiler: ends up forgiving him entirely, if the later films and Ethan's continued employment with IMF are any indication]].
112	* TheReveal: The film starts with a very tense scene in which Ethan Hunt's wife is tied to a chair, whilst Owen Davian threatens to kill her. It's later revealed [[spoiler:that it was a woman who worked for Davian. She is wearing a mask of Julia's face]].
113	* RogueAgent: Ethan Hunt is accused of being this once again halfway through the film, with the real rogue agent being an IMF operative who is TheMole.
114	* TheSociopath: Owen Davian, more so than any other bad guy in the series.
115	* SoftSpokenSadist: Owen threatens to kill Julia right to Ethan's face while speaking in a calm, almost matter-of-fact tone of voice. [[CasualDangerDialogue While being captured by the IMF, no less.]]
116	* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: [[spoiler:When Musgrave puts Julia on the phone to talk to Ethan, Ethan asks her to tell him the name of the lake where they met, to verify her identity. She correctly answers, "Wanaka".]]
117	* TheStoic: Davian. He doesn't even show any emotion when Ethan dangles him out of an airplane.
118	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Ethan's offscreen mother and uncle who were briefly mentioned in the first film are implied to be deceased at the time of this movie based on comments from Julia's mother.
119	* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: Downplayed with the BigBadDuumvirate of the film. Owen Davian is a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] arms dealer who murders people [[ForTheEvulz for fun]] and intends to kickstart a war in the Middle East purely to make a profit]]. His partner and the plan's architect, [[BigBadFriend Musgrave]] is motivated entirely by [[EvilColonialist colonialism and his belief the U.S. should govern the entire Middle East]], but he's a genuinely WellIntentionedExtremist. He genuinely considers Ethan a friend despite betraying him, and he admits that most of the pair's unnecessary cruelty was caused by Davian going off the leash.
120	* TerroristsWithoutACause: Owen Davian is an ''arms dealer'' without a cause. The man provides weapons to anybody who pays him, without caring what the weapons are for or how horrifying they are. He never even raises his voice, let alone tells any reasons he may have to be such a monster.
121	* ThisIsGonnaSuck: A non-physical version when the team has to blow up the Lambo at the Vatican. Zhen doesn't like destroying such a nice car, and cringes as she presses the button.
122	* TortureIsIneffective: Played two different ways.
123	** First, Ethan interrogates Davian his team has abducted on the nature of the film's MacGuffin (a canister of Plot-oleum called "the Rabbit's Foot"). When talking doesn't work and Davian threatens Ethan's relatives (successfully guessing that Ethan is now married), Ethan tries a HighAltitudeInterrogation by hanging him out the bottom of their transport plane and slowly cutting the cable ties holding him to his seat. He still doesn't talk, and worse, learns Ethan's identity from Luther shouting WhatTheHellHero.
124	** Second, after Davian captures Ethan, he holds his previously kidnapped wife at gunpoint, telling Ethan he didn't bring him the real Rabbit's Foot [[HostageForMacGuffin in exchange for Julia's release]] and demanding to know what happened to the real one. Ethan truthfully insists he ''did'' bring them the real one but Davian counts to ten and shoots Julia in the head anyway. [[spoiler:Then Musgrave walks in the room and rips a latex mask off the dead woman, who turns out to be Davian's former security chief. Davian was just killing two birds with one stone, assuring himself that Ethan had upheld his end and administering a YouHaveFailedMe in the bargain.]]
125	* TraitorShot: Film critic [[http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/anatomy.php David Bordwell describes the moment as follows]]:
126	-->"The familiar double-bluff of spy films locks in. [[spoiler:Musgrave, not Brassel]], is the mole. You could argue that this twist was planted [...] when [[spoiler:Musgrave turned away from Brassel]] and stared gravely offscreen as the camera lingered on him—the classic shot of a Suspect."
127	* TrueCompanions: Ethan's team, who risk their careers and freedom to help him. Dunn in particular is a tech guy who works at IMF headquarters and even cracks that he hopes they share a cell together while helping him.
128	* TheUnReveal: The "Rabbit's Foot". They even mention in-universe that it's a MacGuffin and it doesn't matter what it is exactly. That we know that it is powerful (it has a biohazard label on the container) is enough to know.
129	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Averted, as the detailed break-in succeeds.
130	* VillainousVow: Owen Davian gives one of these as soon as he wakes up tied to a chair, not caring one bit that Ethan Hunt and co. easily have the advantage over him for the moment.
131	-->''You have a wife, girlfriend? Because you know what I'm gonna do next? I'm gonna find her, whoever she is, I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna hurt her. I'm gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name, and you're not going to be able to do shit, you know why? 'Cause you're gonna be this close to dead. And then I'm gonna kill you right in front of her''.
132	* VoiceChangeling: As shown in other films in the franchise, the LatexPerfection masks come with a tiny circuitry patch that goes on the masked character's throat and alters their voice so they sound just like the target.
133	* VulnerableConvoy: Davian has just been arrested, so naturally his convoy is attacked and he gets away.
134	* WhyAmITicking: Lindsey and later Ethan Hunt. Admittedly, it's a ''small'' bomb, only enough to turn their brains into mashed potatoes, not enough to 'gib' them.
135	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Enemy soldiers in direct a [=UCAV=]... By surveilling the situation with a ''SniperRifle''. However: [[spoiler:they were trying to frame Ethan, and the rifle was presumably for point defense, not the distracting explosions they really wanted]].
136	* WorstAid: Julia beats the crap out of her patient—that is, performs multiple precordial chest thumps to restore an asystolic heart. While she should now have a corpse with a broken sternum, this instead brought him back to life. At the very least they averted MagicalDefibrillator earlier in the film when they planned to use the defibrillator to temporarily ''flatline'' the patient in order to short out her cranial bomb.
137	* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler: The gagged "Julia" Davian shoots at the beginning/end of the film is actually his Italian translator from the Vatican sequence- it turns out she was also his head of security disguised via LatexPerfection, so the fact that he got kidnapped on her watch means she failed him big time- and she pays for it big time.]]
138	* YouCanBarelyStand: Davian activates a mini-bomb implanted inside Ethan Hunt's skull before attacking him. With the enormous pain of the activated bomb inside his head, Ethan is significantly crippled during the ensuing fight, which compensates for Davian's lack of formal combat training, at least to the level of an IMF agent.
139	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle:
140	** The team successfully rescues Farris from her captors and finally escape the area via helicopter... [[spoiler:only the implanted bomb in her head goes off right before the defibrillator is ready to deactivate the bomb.]] Understandably, they are chewed out by their boss.
141	** [[spoiler: Julia is shot dead in front of Ethan, but that wasn't the real Julia. The ''real'' Julia is in a similar building one mile away.]]
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Context Film / MissionImpossibleIII