Why so much hate for this sequel? From the first time I saw it, I loved it and still do. It is one of the best action movies I've ever seen. Apparently not everyone felt that way. This sequel is basically everything the original was not. It takes the series/franchise in a completely different direction. Where the first one depended on a twisting and turning plot with deception and betrayals, the sequel is first and foremost an action movie. Story, character and plot are basically all left by the wayside. It is a polarizing movie, one fans either love or hate. Action fans should definitely check it out though.
IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has handled his fair share of crazy, even insane missions before, but he's now faced with one that has millions of lives at stake. A pharmaceutical company has accidentally created a virus -- dubbed 'Chimera' -- that potentially could wipe out the population of whole countries. The virus has been stolen by a rogue IMF agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who intends to sell the virus and its antidote to the highest bidder. The only hope Hunt has is to get someone to work from the inside, who he finds in the form of Nyah (Thandie Newton), a professional thief and former girlfriend of Ambrose. Working with a small team (including Ving Rhames' hacker Luther Stickell), Ethan heads to Sydney to stop Ambrose, but the clock is ticking.
Through the ups and downs of the last five or six years, Tom Cruise just hasn't been in the public eye as much, especially in actual movies. Reprising his Ethan Hunt role, Cruise is at his best. The character is somewhat odd over the course of the three M:I movies in how much he changes, but he's always interesting. For starters, Cruise does most of his own stunts. His introduction rock climbing is insane. Watch it HERE, and that's him doing all that climbing hundreds of feet up with no safety net. It sounds so simple, but an actor doing his own stunts -- some truly impressive ones at that -- gives the movie a feeling of reality, of legitimacy as we watch. Say what you want about Cruise and his personal life or off-screen stuff, but he is a legit MOVIE STAR, and there are too few of those out there.
An action legend in Hong Kong, director John Woo has only made a handful of ventures into American films with some hit or miss efforts. While many directors can be classified as 'workmanlike,' just getting through the movie, Woo has a style all to himself, and that's a good word to describe him...style. Interested in story and plot twists and character development? John Woo might not be the director for you. He is a master of creating an intricate, over the top action scene that is just pure fun to watch. All his trademarks are here; the slow motion shootouts, the hero blasting away with two pistols, the ever-present doves (and less classy pigeons) floating through his scenes. The plot may suffer at times -- apparently Woo's final cut was three and a half hours long -- but one thing you never have to worry about is the action.
The Chimera virus, the history between Ethan and Ambrose and Nyah and Ambrose, all that is just a reason to get to the action. The last 40 minutes of the movie are a sight to behold for action fans. Does any of it make sense? No, not really. Did a nameless henchman on a motorcycle need to attack Ethan? No, but how else do we get our hero in a motorcycle chase? This extended sequence has it all. We're talking martial arts and hand to hand combat, shootouts in slow motion with hundreds and thousands of rounds being fired, and that motorcycle chase that is just hard to beat. The showdown between Cruise and Scott is epically and appropriately ridiculous, including a motorcycle jousting scene. Yes, you read that right. Woo knows action, plain and simple. There is something visceral and animalistic about seeing gunfights, explosions and chases, and Woo plays to that notion time and time again, upping the ante repeatedly.
So while I could just describe how cool each and every action scene is -- appealing to the 13-year old boy in my head -- I'll hold off. The action is crazy. Tom Cruise is cool, Scott a great villain, Newton gorgeous as the eye candy, and Rhames provides some comic relief and one-liners as Luther. Richard Roxburgh plays Stamp, Ambrose's menacing right hand man, John Polson plays Billy, the crazy Aussie member of Ethan's team and Brendan Gleeson is the pharmaceutical CEO with $ for eyes. Even Anthony Hopkins makes a quick appearance as Ethan's supervisor/handler. The soundtrack features songs from Limp Bizkit, listen HERE, and Metallica, listen HERE, along with a score from Hans Zimmer reminiscent of his Gladiator score. Sydney looks beautiful, and did I mention the action?
Also excited to report that a fourth M:I movie, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, is due in theaters this December. Not gonna lie, I'm more than a little psyched for it. For now, stick with the first three movies, all good in their own right.
Mission: Impossible II <---trailer (2000): ***/****
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