Mission Impossible 2, in no uncertain words, is an absolutely terrible movie. I’m
still trying to figure out exactly what the heck Tom Cruise was thinking in letting
this stinker hit the big screen--it’s that bad.

Ironically, the fault of “MI2” isn’t necessarily with the concept of the film: the bad guys have developed a life-ending disease in order to make money selling the
created antidote. Granted, it’s nothing that new, but it certainly could have sufficed as the backbone of the movie. No, the guilty part here is director John
Woo, who decided to do the movie. That was his first mistake. His second mistake was in accepting the abysmally mediocre to bad script by Ronald D. Moore. None of the dialog is interesting, and it’s often impossible to differentiate bit characters. But Woo’s third mistake, and most disastrous, is his direction and photography in general. It’s truly is difficult to sit through, sinking easily to the level of the worst of the Bond films, if not worse.

Usually I go a lot deeper into the plot of films, but in this case, it’s totally irrelevant-again, another problem for the movie. There’s nothing to care about, and
nothing really happens. Wasn’t John Woo supposed to specialize in action? “MI2” is almost totally without action, at least for the first 100 minutes, more or less.

I enjoyed Brian DePalma’s version of “Mission Impossible” because it was an intelligently balanced formula of gadgets, action, and an interesting cast. In John Woo’s version, the rest of Cruise’s team doesn’t even enter the picture until the second half of the film, and even when they do they’re totally extraneous to the
plot. Ving Rhames reprises his role as the weapons expert, but it’s tired at best. Whoever did the casting for “MI2” should never be hired again, because not
one—seriously, not one of the supporting parts was interesting to watch.

Another problem I had with “MI2” was the whole “ripping the mask off the face” technique used entirely too much in the first film. If you didn’t like it in the
first film, you’ll hate it in this sequel, as it’s used at least three times. It’s almost as if they ran out of money to make any cool gadgets, since they spent it all
of latex faces. It feels like a total rip off every time they use the trick.

I knew going in from the word of mouth that “MI2” wouldn’t be great. I was even braced for it to be totally
mediocre. What I wasn’t ready for was an almost un-watchable mess, and that’s what I got. Keep in mind that I’m a big fan of “Face/Off”, and I still hated this flick. Again, I just can’t figure out why Tom Crusie allowed this mess to turn out the way it did,
since you have to understand that he has a huge amount of power on any movie
he’s in, especially one he produces. Perhaps he was preoccupied with other matters. Perhaps he was just out for the shoe-in first week or two of big box office money, but I find that hard to believe. No, I think that what happened with “MI2” was a combination of a terrible script, horrible casting, and abysmal direction that probably cost so much that by the time it was viewed by the powers that be, that it became too late to save it.

I suppose however, that if I had to point out some redeeming value of MI2,
it would be Thandie Newton. Her performance as Cruise’s love interest was fine, but it’s really just looking at her that I enjoyed. She truly should and most likely will be a major leading actress soon, as her acting chops are very good. And she’s not exactly hard on the eyes either…


In any case, save yourself, and avoid this movie at all costs.

On the Splitscale: 1.5/10 (Thandie gets a whole point, and the action sequences,
all together, get a half a point.)



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12