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VING RHAMES ON A ‘MISSION’: Actor talks about returning to the lucrative franchise, and why the third time is a charm.
*There’s a new movie that arrives in theaters today – you may have heard of it. It’s called “Mission: Impossible III?”
Its star Tom Cruise has been in a few different countries promoting it? Its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this week was the focus of a half-hour TV special on NBC, and even MTV and BET devoted programming to the opening.
Perhaps smothered by all of the attention surrounding Wednesday’s four premiere events in New York’s Times Square, Tribeca, Harlem and Midtown Manhattan – not to mention the rage surrounding TomKat and their new baby – is the film’s story. Is it actually worth all of the garish promotion?
“The beauty of this one for me, in coming back, is the script,” notes Ving Rhames, who returns to the franchise for the third time as computer expert Luther Strickell. In “M:iIII,” Strickell is called to duty by his old friend, super spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to help handle a wicked arms dealer played by Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Rhames says this film is superior to the first two “Mission: Impossible” outings because “it’s more similar to the television series, you have the ‘Mission: Impossible’ team, and the importance of each team member.” He adds: “I also think because you have Tom and you have a love interest with his character – the scenes where he’s in danger also his loved one is in danger, his family is in danger – if something happens to him, what happens to them? So I think adding those elements with all of the high octane action puts this a level or two above ‘Mission’ I and II.”
Writer-director J.J. Abrams, the mastermind behind TV’s “Alias” and “Lost,” sits in the director’s chair this time around, while Cruise also served as the film’s executive producer. Both filmmakers have an acting background and could have approached the set expecting actors to bow down and obey their vision of the film. But that wasn’t the case, says Rhames.
“What I love about Tom as an executive producer, and even with J.J., to me we work as actors in what I call a structured freedom,” Rhames explains during interviews for the film. “We have freedom to do things and move within certain parameters, and I think part of that is because J.J. as an actor, and Tom as an executive producer/actor understands that sometimes actors do things action/reaction. Having that kind of freedom, I think, just adds a fluidity to the piece.”
Whether or not the film can live up to its hype remains to be seen. But one thing’s for certain, notes Rhames: “It was a chance to have some fun and make a good deal of money.”
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