8. Mission: Impossible III (2006) — The Bridge Ambush
Before we explain our choice, let’s acknowledge that Maggie Q’s red dress during the Vatican heist is perhaps a superior set piece all by itself. Mission: Impossible III is the most modest entry in the series, and its defining set piece reflects as much. It’s also a scene that is cloaked in failure. In this sequence, Ethan Hunt loses. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s villain gets away with relative ease. And yet, the elegance of the scene cannot be overstated. There’s the score, the pacing and the way Ving Rhames shouts, “Ethan, there’s a G36 in the truck!”
J.J. Abrams had established himself as an ace at building what he would deem a “mystery box” on television: “What you think you’re getting, then what you’re really getting.” The bridge scene is a beautiful mystery box. Just as we get our bearings on where our characters are, which vehicle they are in, etc., there’s an explosion. As Ethan recovers from the blast, a helicopter with ominous soldiers appears. Our hero, in this moment, is more human than we’ve ever seen him before (save maybe this film’s opening). Xan writes that “Tom Cruise is incredible in this, seeing Ethan Hunt so vulnerable and emotional is just something else.”
