Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II had a promising start, but got out of hand as time went on. In the beginning we have plenty of great scenes, like the rock-climbing in the intro or the car chase in the mountains. The plot is interesting and fun, but it all comes crashing down after some time when the action begins.

Where do I start? There were a couple of problems. The action is incredibly over-dramatic and unrealistic. Some stunts were impressive, but in the context of the movie it just didn't work. I like my spy movies grounded, and when I see movements that defy physics, like a man being thrown over a meter into the air by a karate kick to the chin, it takes me out of the movie. There were a lot of moments like that where you can't help but question what you are seeing, and that is never a good thing. There were so many scenes that were unrealistic and over-dramatic to the point where it just got ridiculous. It was the same when it came to usage of slowmotion. The slowmotion was very overused and it sometimes destroyed the immersion. The cinematography in general was a bit weird sometimes. Sometimes, it would zoom in on characters faces way too often and often during weird moments. The sound design on the guns was a bit off as well.

As listed above, there where a lot of negatives about this film, but it wasn't all bad. There were some good moments and the story had some interesting aspects to it, but when you question something, you begin to question everything and thats when you see a lot of flaws with this film.

The first 60 percent of this movie was pretty good; the last 40 percent was mostly action and mostly so hokey, so stupid, it was an insult for any viewer with a brain. Too bad, the first Mission Impossible was excellent and I hear the third film was good. However, this second one was a stinker by comparison.

I except most films to have that "Rambo mentality," as I call it, where hundreds of bullets are fired - and missed- at the hero, while he or she hits everything in sight. That was here but so overly done that is was absurd and downright annoying after awhile.

Tom Cruise, our hero, should have been shot so many times I lost count. This is director John Woo, for you, who always overdoes action and sometimes makes it ridiculous.

The good points are slick photography, interesting characters, good surround sound, low profanity and a very good soundtrack. Thandie Newton is attractive heroine and Dougray Scott is satisfactory as the main villain.

The movie plays more like a James Bond film, although it still has MI touches such as the fake rubber masks we saw in the first film. More realism in that 40 minutes would have made this a far better film than it turned out to be. Oveall, a bit disappointing.

IMF Agent Ethan Hunt is sent on a seemingly impossible mission to capture a destroy the only existing supply of a deadly disease known as Chimera. However a group of terrorists, led by ex-IMF agent Ambrose also want the disease so that they can us it to infect the world as they have already got the only cure. Hunt turns to jewel thief Nyah to help him by infiltrating her ex-lover's (Ambrose) group to spy on them.

John Woo must have thought of the elements he needed to follow up the solid thrills of the original movie. Big action scenes? Yes. Slow-motion? Yes. Plot? Characters? Good theme music? Logic of any kind? Nope – won't be needing those! Or at least that's how it felt. The plot of the first film was clever despite being open to holes – the plot here makes the first one look like a watertight piece of genius! The story only really serves to set up action scenes and the like – I can barely remember the disease and can only recall rubbish action scenes!

For a director like John Woo I knew to expect slow-mo and OTT action, but I didn't know that it would all be so very superficial and weak. For example the car chase where Hunt and Nyah meet is just ridiculous and very annoying. The robbery of the disease is a pale shadow of the original film's robbery scene and the final motorbike chase is good but only a hint of what Woo has done before. The plot overuses the whole `face mask' thing – it must do it about 8 or 9 times – many of those time's there's no way Hunt could have made a mask of the people involved! It's another example of how silly it is.

While Cruise was cool in the first film, here he is slick and tough – an image that doesn't work. He was much better in the first film. Scott is non-existent as a villain and is pretty dull. Newton is sexy but no more than that. Rhames is good and Hopkins has an enjoyable minor role.

Overall this film is an OTT mess. The plot is a shambles and the action scenes are silly and often have no logical reason behind them! The overuse of the face masks just points to the total lack of a good script and Woo's slow motion just feels tired and unimaginative. Only the final action scene is enjoyable, but by then you're ony interesting in turning this off and watching De Palma's much better film instead.

I just watched this movie for the first time, and I kept having this vague feeling that I'd heard the story before. Then it came to me: Notorious! It's an Aflred Hitchcock film starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant from 1946.

The basic plotline goes: girl comes from questionable background. guy is sent to get girl for top-secret mission. guy falls in love with girl. guy discovers that girl must seduce the enemy. guy is not happy. girl goes. girl seduces the enemy. girl discovers enemy secrets. girl gets sick. guy rescues girl.

Can we say deja vu? The scene that really clinched it for me was the horse racing scene. Ingrid and Cary do the same scene! It's scary. All they did was update the plotline a little (ie, virus instead of gunpowder for the Nazis), throw in some action (well, a lot of action), and bogus technology, and you're set.

Watch Notorious for yourself and see what I mean...

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