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Billed and marketed as THE summer blockbuster for 2000, Mission:Impossible
2 is another example of the triumph of style over substance.
For while there is plenty to admire about John Woo's action
set pieces, there is not a lot in between with a ridiculous
plot and paper thin characters.
The undoubted financial impact of this movie, along with its
predecessor seem sure to secure this as another successful 60s
TV movie franchise (along with the gold mine that is Star Trek).
But unlike Star Trek, purists will question the resemblance
of this movie to the original exploits of Peter Graves and his
Impossible Mission team. For starters, there is no real 'team'
to speak of. Its pretty much all Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in
James Bond mode, saving the world with the dubious assistance
of a couple of sidekicks (Ving Rhames and John Polson) who do
little more than play on a laptop and fly a helicopter, respectively.
Also gone are the convoluted and twisting plots. This one is
made simple so that everyone can follow it and the twists are
so telegraphed that they lose their impact. The basic idea is
that Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), a former IM agent turned
bad tries to steal a deadly virus along with its cure so he
can hold the world to ransom. Despite being a highly skilled
agent, he somehow fouls up and ends up with only the cure. So
he has to try and steal the virus again and Ethan Hunt is assigned
to stop him. The plot goes downhill from there because it revolves
around Ambrose trying to arrange a business deal with the chief
executive of the pharmaceuticals compa ny (not for money, of
course, this is the new millenium after all and just like the
canny investors in Silicon Valley, Ambrose wants stock options).
Throughout the film we are reminded of what masters of disguise
these agents are. So why doesn't Ambrose just disguise himself
as the chief exceutive and waltz in and steal the virus?
Most of the characters are a bit two dimensional as well. Dougray
Scott is your standard mad villain (with the usual array of
menacing but ineffectual henchmen who can't shoot straight)
but he just isn't evil enough to add drama to the confrontations.
Thandie Newton is supposed to be master thief Nyah Hall, but
gets little chance to showcase her skills and is instead reduced
to being involved in a ridiculousBond-girl like romance with
Ethan Hunt. Anthony Hopkins makes a good impact in his brief
role, and gets to deliver the movie's best line (" this
isn't Mission Difficult, its Mission Impossible - difficult
should be a walk in the park for you").
This film is really a showcase for director John Woo and his
hero Tom Cruise. Cruise is cool and stylish throughout and seems
to have learnt his moves from watching Face/Off and The Matrix.
Woo uses his famed slo-mo style to good effect in various fight
scenes as well as the excellent 'shoot two guns while diving
gracefully through the air' moves. Also look out for other John
Woo trademarks such as flying doves and spooky kids (a group
of kids sing the Great Plague song 'A Ring a Ring o Roses').
Overall, this film has a good look about it but ultimately
has little else to offer and ends up being mostly unsatisfying.
One can't help thinking that it has the disjointed look of a
movie that has had a major change of director during production.
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