MI3 is the most enjoyable of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE films. It has a coherent story, nifty locations, and actors who know when to play it straight and when to chew the scenery.
The story is your basic Maguffin chase, no apologies necessary. The film called the prize in question the "rabbit's foot," and it'll end the world or some such, but the prize itself remains largely irrelevant. That's fine - I just appreciated that, unlike with the first two films, I could follow who was doing what to whom and why.
As with any good spy thriller, the action jumps from city to city around the world, barely stopping for breath or exposition. Everything looks great, the cops never respond to extraordinary amounts of gunfire, and someone put the bridge that links the Florida Keys in the middle of Virginia. Oh, and lots of stuff blows up real good.
Finally, there's the cast. The filmmakers assembled an extraordinary group of actors for a bubble-gum movie: there's Maggie Q in black fatigues, Maggie Q in a red dress, and Maggie Q in a leather jacket. It's the perfect cast for nearly any movie, and it succeeds perfectly.
In short, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 is slick, succesful, big-budget entertainment. I understand that the movie didn't make much money in the theaters, mostly due to the shenanigans of some guy who isn't Maggie Q, but pay no attention to that extraneous stuff: grab a DVD copy, pop some popcorn, and enjoy.
