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With Tom Cruise finding some new couches to jump on and J.J. Abrams spending all his free time working on the next Star Trek movie, one has to wonder: What's going to happen with Paramount's Mission: Impossible franchise?

OK, maybe you aren't thinking that. I mean, "Mission: Impossible III" was a pretty decent movie, and a good followup to the first two films. But audiences were pretty cool to the film as there was hardly a crowd lined up waiting to see it when it first came out.

I wasn't there, either. I think I was getting my hair cut that weekend or something. However, I did finally watch the film on pay per view recently, and was impressed enough to hope that Paramount at some point would make another one.

Yes, I know. Why on Earth would I waste my time thinking about that, and further more, what the hell does any of this have to do with science-fiction? A lot, actually. M:I is not sci-fi itself, but humor me for a minute.

If Paramount were to kick M:I back into gear, there would have to be a major recasting, and it would have to be good. The first three movies had strong star power in the form of Cruise, so the studio would have to choose carefully. To use a Batman analogy, they would want to find a Christian Bale, not a George Clooney, to replace Michael Keaton. And in watching "M:I 3" I think I know who would be perfect for the role. You know him as Capt. Jack in "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood," but for me, I can only think of John Barrowman as Ethan Hunt.

Sure, Barrowman is hardly the star here (or even in England) that Cruise is, but he certainly has that Cruise look about him. He also is very charismatic and handles stunt action well. And if Hunt ever had to sing his way out of a jam, Barrowman would be ready to exercise that baritone voice of his to perfection.

I am a tremendous John Barrowman fan, and I would like to see Hollywood take note of his talent. I mean, he's no Oscar nominee (not yet, anyway), but he has many of the qualities that could help him own the role.

Barrowman has perfect timing to balance seriousness and humor. He is mostly an unknown in many places, and he has some similar features to Cruise, so many people may not even look twice. And, for Gallifrey's sake, he's Capt. Jack. I say that both affectionately, and with a hint of worry. Barrowman is running into a potential problem where he could be typecast as the time-traveling part-time companion of The Doctor. He is going to need to find roles that allow him to continue playing Capt. Jack, but also show a diversity that is needed for Hollywood survival. And I think Barrowman taking on Ethan Hunt in a Mission: Impossible film would be just the ticket.

And no, I don't think it's a waste of talent at all. It's not like I'm asking Paramount to cast Matt Damon as Capt. Kirk or anything.

SyBits

If you missed this past week's episode of "Boston Legal" on ABC, you missed what I think was by far one of the more moving episodes the show ever done. This particular episode focused on William Shatner's character of Denny Crane, and Denny's break-through case working with his father to help an accused murderer beat the wrap. To help put us back to Denny Crane's first case, we got a chance to see a very young William Shatner working with actor Ralph Bellamy using scenes from a short-lived television series from the late 1950s called "Studio One." The names of the characters were changed to Cranes, but it worked great, and made Denny Crane seem more real and less cartoon (not that there was anything wrong with how we've seen Denny so far).

There's no reason to bring it up other than it was definitely worth seeing. So if you haven't, I guess you'll have to wait for the DVD.

My wife and I went to see "The Last Mimzy" on Tuesday. We both enoyed the movie very much. Yes, it did bog down in a few places, but in my opinion, that was for the audience to get a chance to think about the plot and the story. If this movie would have maintained a rapid-fire pace of events, I feel the audience would have bene left behind wondering what they missed.

Two other shows had the same commentary made about their presentations. The original pilot for "Star Trek" was accused of being too cerebral for the masses. The beginning of "2001: A Space Odyssey" is the other. The beginning shows the apes with the monolith and explaining the origins of sentience for the human race. Generally held as one of the most boring scenes ever shot.

Both of these shows have become classics due to their vision and uniqueness. I will always look forward to a good thinking person's sci-fi movie any day of the week. I would just like to see the reviewers hope for that as well.
-- Mark

In case anyone is wondering, Mark is referring to a review I wrote a couple weeks back on "The Last Mimzy," a snoozer of a movie that no one took the time to go see. But I have to say, Mark, I am not sure you convinced me of much, as well written as your letter was.

First of all, there's a difference between being cerebral, and just being poorly edited, so I don't think "The Cage" argument works in this case. And "2001"? That was the longest 20-minute movie in history. I know I use that joke all the time, but it's not a joke.

The problem with a new X-Files movie is that too much time has passed since the first X-Files film. I could be dead wrong on this, but I get the impression that the popularity of this franchise has faded with time. Also, the first X-Files movie did not really add anything new in terms of overall story. The fact that it was made while the series was still on the air made it seem nothing more than a TV episode masquerading as a big budget movie.
-- Steven Poisson

Yeah, I hear you. Waiting 10 years between things is just a death sentence. I mean, remember back in 1979 when no one showed up to see "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which was debuting a decade after the original series went off the air? Or how about when the latest Superman movie was all but ignored since there was like 14 years between the last movie and the current movie?

I don't know about people these days. They sure do have short memory spans.

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Michael Hinman, named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2006, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.