Mission: Impossible 2 Review
by Frankie Paiva (SwpStke AT aol DOT com)June 16th, 2000
Mission: Impossible 2
rated PG-13
123 minutes
Paramount Pictures
starring Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, and Ving Rhames written by Robert Towne
directed by John Woo
A Review by Frankie Paiva
Mission: Impossible 2 opens with a thrilling plane crash that employs the classic use of masks from the television show and last movie. It gave me high hopes for a thrilling sequel, but when the movie approached its conclusion, I realized it had cheated me out of any real human emotion. The occasional, "That was cool!" escaped my lips, but as the film droned on, even those got fewer and farther in between. This is the problem at the core of this mission. The characters are virtually cardboard cutouts with the amazing ability to walk, talk, develop toned muscles, and wear outfits with maximum cleavage. They're like those cardboard standups you find at party stores of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, and their reactions are just the same.
Our hero, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), gets assigned to stop a virus that causes rapid cell destruction, killing anyone injected with it after twenty hours. He must get thief Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton, little known to most, unless you saw Beloved or Besieged) to join the impossible team. Within fifteen minutes of the movie's running time the two have already slept together. He woos Nyah (no pun intended) with lines like, "Damn you're beautiful." The team, which also includes Luther Stickell, Ving Rhames's character from the last movie, must stop the virus from getting into the hands of evil agent Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Ambrose wants to buy stock in the company with virus's antidote. Then he would cause an outbreak of the disease, making his stock skyrocket to millions of dollars. The commercials for this movie should have foreshadowed the long and usually bloody action scenes that follow. All of these scenes involve Tom and his bulging muscles with Thandie looking doe-eyed, helpless, and dependent on Tom for her every need and desire. Also popping up for a couple of scenes is Anthony Hopkins who I think is just starting to get pretty darn annoying.
While the above plot outline may not sound complex, the plot the movie presents you with is. Like too many action and horror movies, the characters grasp things too quickly as if someone were explaining to them what had just happened, and how to fix it. Often, this loses the audience. A couple of times in the movie, a Russian doctor tells Hunt that their situation isn't that complicated. All I was thinking about shouting back to the screen was, "Yes! It is!" Other things I contemplated shouting mainly involved the stupidity of the characters and the cheesy dialogue uttered. Another problem with this sequel (and to a lesser degree the previous film) is that it really has nothing to do with the original Mission: Impossible television show. I watched a couple of old episodes of the program after seeing this movie, and I couldn't find any resemblance between the two at all. This is basically a big stupid action movie operating under the show's name, music, and mask use. The masks are overdone as well, to the point where they just get too predictable. Also missing is the use of cool, complicated gadgets. The team uses a variety of high tech devices like digital cameras and GPS tracking systems. Both of which got introduced at least two years ago and have already become integrated into the more techno savvy homes in America. Did the team lose the pack of exploding gum?
To be honest, Mission: Impossible 2 isn't an entirely bad film. There are some effective stunts, especially near the end, that obviously originate from famous action director John Woo. However, by the time the film got to the level of action expected, I was too mindless from the previous proceedings to care. It's really disappointing when talented actors like these can't pull a movie off. Tom Cruise proved he can still act with his Oscar nomination for Magnolia, but that film gets forgotten quickly. Likewise, Thandie Newton, who I loved in Besieged, ends up looking like a three year-old baby doll.
So buy the biggest popcorn available, and get that extra large drink. They'll be your only reliable companions through the world of stupidity that is Mission: Impossible 2.
D
Frankie Paiva
[email protected]
http://www.homestead.com/cinemaparadise/mainpage.html
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