YMMV / Mission: Impossible III

• Catharsis Factor: Ethan eventually turning Davian's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on him and then tackling him into the street where he gets brutally struck down head first by an incoming truck is nothing short of an extremely satisfying moment. The audience was no doubt counting the seconds to when it would finally happen. Musgrave getting shot down by Julia also counts.
• Complete Monster:
  • Owen Davian is a sociopathic, powerful international Arms Dealer who is notorious for selling to different terrorists. Davian wants to find the Rabbit's Foot, a highly dangerous weapon which Davian is going to give to John Musgrave and start a war in the Middle East which would kill many people. When he captures an agent who is spying on him, he brutally tortures her and plants a bomb inside of her head, detonating the bomb when she is finally rescued. When Davian is interrogated by Ethan Hunt, he gloats about killing the agent, saying that the only real reason he did it was because it was fun, before threatening to do the same to Ethan and his wife, no matter what, which he attempts to do multiple times, even going as far as to disguise his own security chief as Ethan's wife, and then killing her, just to torture Ethan. In his final moments, he keeps his promise, and decides to kill Ethan's wife, with Ethan Forced to Watch.
  • John Musgrave, the IMF's Director of Operations, poses as a friend to Ethan while plotting for war in the Middle East out of racism. Contracting Davian to locate the Rabbit's Foot, Musgrave intends on reporting the weapon's sale to terrorists to justify an invasion, while ready to replace Davian with any other merchant of death should Davian fail. Callously manipulating his fellow IMF colleagues, Musgrave boasts of his plan to a captive Ethan while threatening to have Davian kill his innocent fiancée.
• Evil Is Cool: Owen Davian is generally considered to the best part of the film due to Philip Seymour Hoffman's fantastic performance, making him utterly terrifying. Many have said he's the best villain in the whole series.
• Genius Bonus: When Brassel is dressing down Ethan and his boss, he refers to Davian supplying 'gas centrifuge technology' (used for uranium enrichment) and clarifies that when he refers to him as The Invisible Man, he's referring to the H. G. Wells version, not the novel about race written by (Ralph) Ellison.
• Growing the Beard: The first two films were successful but had different points of criticism, especially when compared to staying true to the Mission: Impossible premise. With plenty of time between the films, though, both audiences and critics saw this film as solidifying the movie franchise as being willing to make broader tonal changes and feel more director driven than comparable action movie franchises. It became more apparent once Ghost Protocol came out, but this film did start the trend of Cruise having one BIG stunt piece with the rooftop pendulum swing.
• He Really Can Act: While Tom Cruise has never been considered a poor actor, in the cold open he's pitted against Philip Seymour Hoffman in his first performance since winning an Oscar for Capote, and Cruise matches him beat for beat.
• Harsher in Hindsight: There is a discussion about how Davian is like a weed and that if cut out, two more like him will spring up the next day. Ghost Protocol and beyond would prove this assertion correct with villains who are just as bad if not worse than Davian, two of them even having ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons. One of the villains manages to top even this by being a very capable, rogue artificial intelligence.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: After Shaun of the Dead became a big hit, an interviewer asked Simon Pegg if he was going to do the whole Hollywood thing now, to which he replied, "It's not like I'm going to be in Mission: Impossible III." Guess again, Simon! (It's not the only time he's made a prediction like that one.)
• Love to Hate: Owen Davian is a sadistic monster with absolutely no redeeming traits but Philip Seymour Hoffman's chilling, committed performance makes him incredibly compelling and riveting to watch. After all the grief he has caused, Davian gets a satisfying comeuppance by getting hit fatally in the face by a truck driving over Ethan and Davian as they brawl in the middle of a road.
• Narm: The final fight between Ethan and Davian would have been more awesome... had Ethan not made some of the most ridiculous looking faces while beating down Davian with his elbows.◊ Also Davian's shoe flying off after he gets run over by a truck.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Aaron Paul as Julia's brother.
  • One of the agents that comes to arrest Ethan is Carlton Lassiter.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: After the first film debuted to mostly positive reviews from critics (while proving divisive among the fandom for some of its twists) and the second film earned a mixed reception, the third film was more broadly well-received.
• Theiss Titillation Theory: Maggie Q's dress in the Vatican sequence. To quote Philip Seymour Hoffman's reaction, "You're wearing a tablecloth!" Complete with a panty shot when her character draws out a bomb detonator to fake Davian's death from her leg.

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