Mission: Impossible II

De Palma declined to continue the series. Enter: John Woo. Enter: camp.

Watched this one with the lads, we're slowly going through the series before Part 8 (the final part? Right?). Had to tell them that this is an outlier, it all goes mostly uphill from here.

What a film. I mean, what a film. When it fully commits to John Woo's style, it's glorious. Unfortunately most of it is trying to be like that first movie.

The plot is convoluted. So much was cut for presumably momentum and more bouldering screen-time. There's a few great sequences (with some truly epic music from the Zimmer that don't simmer) but overall it feels like a large misfire. This is not continuing with the strengths of the first movie.

Still, at least it's a fun movie to watch. Most mediocre films are dreary, it's only the truly bad or truly great ones that usually get a rise out of me. This is an exception. Partly because of its high highs, but also because it's a fascinating outlier in a series that took its sweet time finding that sweet spot.

I love the Mission Impossible series and MI2 is probably the weakest one but i don't think that makes it a bad movie. it's directed by John Woo who is a master of action cinema. Watch Hard Boiled, The Killer, Bullet in the head and Face Off to see his over the top, balls to the wall action movies. I just don't think his style really works in an American spy thriller as the slower more dialogue heavy moments are full of exposition and cartoonish moments. John Woo's movies are more theatrical in tone and it doesn't really work here, it comes off as a bit silly. There had to be some kind of studio meddling because you can tell the violence was toned down in editing as well. It's rated a 15 in the UK but i reckon it's more like a 12A. Even so i still enjoy this movie for what it is, there's strong performances by everyone, lots of cool high tech spy gadgets, decent action with some awesome stunts and you can see the start of Tom Cruise taking risks to make these movies as he performs a lot of the bike stunts and kung fu himself(As far as i can tell). There's also a pretty breathtaking rock climbing scene at the beginning of the movie.

The series really took off from Mission Impossible 3 onwards but this is still a fun action thriller, not brilliant but i have seen MUCH worse movies which other people claim to love and praise.

Mission: Impossible was a fast paced espionage thriller that actually made you think, which is what I like in a movie. Since John Woo, who is one of the kings of the action genre, took over for Brian De Palma, you can expect Mission: Impossible II to be an intense action movie with a majorly dumbed down plot. Everything to do with the plot is laid out for us basically right away. Now, all there is to do is sit back and watch those classic John Woo action sequences. In this movie, Ethan Hunt is once again a secret agent, and he is sent on a mission to stop a crooked agent from stealing a deadly virus for his own use.

I liked the first Mission: Impossible better because it had a more advanced plot. This Mission: Impossible is just a bland shoot 'em up action film. Now there's nothing wrong with that. The movie was still immensely entertaining. It just didn't fit in with the first film. Even the character of Ethan Hunt, though still played by Tom Cruise, is different. In this movie he doesn't seem as serious about his job. He's more cocky. However, I do like that the character now has absolutely amazing skills in hand to hand combat.

Overall, if you're looking for a smart spy thriller like the first film, this ain't it. If you're looking for a fun action film with amazing action sequences, this is it.

6.5/10

I was really looking forward to this film coming out! When I saw it a while back I was pretty disappointed! John Woo proves once again that action is forte, but MI2 really needed some espionage spy suspense and plot rather than Tom Cruise looking good in front of the camera!

The action sequences were very impressive but that doesn't hold a film together! There just didn't seem to be any conflict going on to really get my blood pumping! Dougray Scott played merely an average villain, although I believe that is due the script and his screen-time! It was very predictable, and Ving Rhames was wasted by being merely just this charity character who had no influence on the story what-so-ever! One reviewer described this film as patronising which is my sentiments exactly, sure I don't expect any action flick to have believability and can be patronising to some degree! But MI2 over-steps the mark by forgetting the original concept of the series and totally relying on slow-mo action shots rather than suspense and plot! A typical average action flick, **1/2 out of *****!

That was mid tbh , The first film was Pretty nice atleast and i knew that going into this movie i know it's gonna be the weakest in the franchies , the ratings and the overall story just didn't click with me , what caused the desease and why and why and why , a lot of questions this film didn't answer in a way that satisfied me , still Tom cruise is a legend in acting performance and also his "love" intrest is also a solid character i thought i would've hated her but nah , still the film felt a bit confusing at times , more than i'm comfortable with to be honest , even though its an action film about a spy it still leaves a lot of questions floating around and some plot holes and some actions that are just there for?? What?.

Anyways what i liked is the score and the setting and tom cruise's acting , but i would be lying if i said i didn't enjoy the first half because it was intresting but after that "heist" scene which i didn't consider a heist because of how boring and low quality it was atleast some stuff happened in the film.

Anyways i wanted to watch this to complete the franchies which is kind of a pressure watch so i can finish this whole mission impossible series , still there's a lot of good films to come from this and i've just stumbled upon the worst one probably? 6/10.