The first big blockbuster of the summer is also the first big surprise: Mission impossible 3 is actually rather good! For those of us unfortunate enough to sit through the lamentable second film in the franchise, this might sound like an idle boast, but seriously on its own merits MI: 3 works on almost all levels. This is primarily down to one man, and it isn't Tom Cruise…

J.J Abrams- the man behind this film, and the mega hit 'Lost,' is really hot property at the moment. To save an ailing franchise is one thing, but to invest so much time, care and attention to something that doesn't really merit it on first glance is genius. In reality, the film owes much to Abram's earlier work on the mind-bending TV series 'Alias'. Obviously, the one off big screen format doesn't allow for the myriad of sub-plots that the TV show was famous for, and that's no bad thing.

The first film in the Mission Impossible series was a solid if unspectacular affair. It did however work very well in its delivery of some espionage set pieces, and that is one of the strong points of this effort. The 'team' mentality is also well played, with Ving Rhames and Maggie Q excelling and only an OTT accent holding back Jonathon Rhys Meyers. Of course it's Cruise who gets to do the lion's share of the running (the boy runs a lot in this film) and shooting. The villains are a little underused, especially Oscar winner, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who shows how good he is in the few scenes he is given.

Only a pinch behind the 'Bourne' series, and way ahead of the ageing 'Bond' franchise, this style of movie, I could see a lot more of, and there is something I never dreamed of saying before!