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<TITLE>Review for Mission: Impossible II (2000)</TITLE>
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<H1 ALIGN="CENTER" CLASS="title"><A HREF="/Title?0120755">Mission: Impossible II (2000)</A></H1><H3 ALIGN=CENTER>reviewed by<BR><A HREF="/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem">John Beachem</A></H3><HR WIDTH="40%" SIZE="4">
<PRE>MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2</PRE>
<PRE>Review by John Beachem</PRE>
<PRE>* * * *</PRE>
<PRE>Directed by: John Woo
Written by: Robert Towne, Brannon Braga</PRE>
<P>Impossible mission agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back. His IMF
contact, Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins), tracks him down while Hunt is
rock climbing on vacation and tells him to track down former IMF
agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Ambrose has stolen the cure to a
lethal virus from a German scientist; he is now hunting for the virus
itself so he can infect most of the world and sell the cure to the
highest bidder. In order to catch Ambrose, Hunt enlists the aid of a
jewel thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton). Nyah had a
relationship with Ambrose years earlier, and it is believed that he
still has feelings for her. The problem is that Hunt finds himself
falling for Nyah and isn't sure if he can let her go to Ambrose. Hunt
also employs the services of Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), the
computer geek who assissted him in his last mission, and a
wisecracking Australian named Billy (John Polson). The three find
their way to the outback, where Ambrose has holed up while searching
for the virus which is lethal if not given the antidote after 24
hours.</P>
<P>Think back to 1996, when the first "Mission: Impossible" film hit
theaters.  That movie, despite good performances from both Cruise and
Rhames and an interesting (if somewhat convoluted) plot, was mired
down by a lack of any action and Brian DePalma's direction. "Mission:
Impossible 2" has solved both these problems with one simple solution
- John Woo. Woo is the kind of director who can make a flock of
pigeons look interesting and exciting.  Whatever your opinion might be
of his two previous endeavors, "Face/Off" and "Broken Arrow", it's
hard to deny that the man has the ability to film a fantastic looking
action sequence. In "M:I-2" (as it has been advertised) he has created
a few scenes which will no doubt be rememberd by audiences for a long
time. One is a motorcycle chase sequence near the film's end; and the
other is a scene, that audiences will probably remember from the
previews, where Cruise scales a mountain without climbing gear. Both
scenes feature some of the most spectacular stuntwork I've seen this
side of a Jackie Chan movie.</P>
<P>If John Woo has one weakness, it's his inability to pull great
performances out of his actors. Tom Cruise is certainly adequate in
"M:I-2", and at times even a little above that; but he has delivered
much better performances in the past, even in movies like the
otherwise awful and pretentious "Magnolia". Ving Rhames ("Bringing Out
the Dead"), who is a very talented actor, is sadly underused once
again as the amusing computer geek. John Polson ("The Boys") is
relatively unknown to American audiences, having appeared mostly in
Australian films; and he will no doubt remain unkown after being in
this movie for a total of ten minutes or so. Thandie Newton
("Besieged") appears, at first glance, to be present entirely to look
good (and she does so admirably). However, the romantic elements in
"M:I-2" are actually used quite often and effectively. The only
problem is they take a back seat to the action scenes about half way
through the film, and poor Newton more or less vanishes. Last we have
Dougray Scott ("Ever After"), using a very poor imitation Scottish
accent. Oh wait, that really is his accent. Scott looks suitably evil
I suppose, but Woo used much better villains in his last two films:
Travolta and, uh, Travolta. Scott also gets the cheesiest lines, like
"You should have killed me when you had the chance."</P>
<P>Let's face it, you're not going to see "M:I-2" for romance or great
acting.  You want to see this movie for great action scenes and nifty
gadgets, and on both counts it delivers in spades. In fact, "M:I-2" is
the kind of movie that the James Bond films are trying to be, but are
failing at miserably.  I've got an idea: The entire Bond franchise
should be dropped, and we should get an "M:I-3" (I can't believe I'm
asking for a sequel). The action scenes are all excellent in one way
or another, and unlike in DePalma's rather sorry film, they come along
quite often. Woo also adds nice touches to the movie, like fire
reflecting in someone's eyes and dramatic music playing while Ethan
Hunt walks past a flaming doorway in slow motion. The movie's score is
another one of its strong points, being very dramatic and loud during
all the dramatic and loud scenes (which would actually ecompass most
of the film). I'd certainly recommend "M:I-2" to any action fans out
there, though I think there is enough gushy romance to satisfy the non
action fans as well (I could be wrong). The movie runs a touch too
long at 122 minutes.  I give it four out of five stars.</P>
<P>Any past movies you want me to review? Send to:
<A HREF="mailto:johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net">johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net</A>
Past reviews can be found at either: <A HREF="http://www.dependentfilms.net">http://www.dependentfilms.net</A> or
<A HREF="http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem">http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem</A></P>
<P>* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year.
* * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one.
* * * - Okay movie, hits and misses.
* * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk.
* - See this one only if you enjoy pain.</P>
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