Mission: Impossible 2 Review
by Christian Pyle (Tlcclp AT aol DOT com)June 25th, 2000
Mission: Impossible 2
Reviewed by Christian Pyle
Directed by John Woo
Written by Robert Towne
Starring Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, and Ving Rhames Grade: A-
No sooner do I lament the failure of imported Hong Kong superstars to match their earlier work than I have to retract it. (You can find the tirade in my review of "Shanghai Noon"). Just when I least expected it, director John Woo has given us a feast for the eyes in "Mission: Impossible 2." It's been a long
wait, watching his American movies for hints of the action-master who directed "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled." Woo came to Hollywood to make 1993's "Hard Target" and followed it with "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off," and a few made-for-TV projects. All of these movies show at least the fingerprints of Woo in trademark moments like the hero leaping with two .45 automatics blazing, but none of the movies reflected the Woo we knew from his Hong Kong works. I did not expect this situation to change with "M:I-2," the most-hyped movie of the summer, because the studio pressure would likely be intense. But I was wrong .
. .
Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, the shining star of the Impossible Missions Force, and his assignment is to retrieve Chimera, an extremely deadly super-flu
invented as the first step toward a flu cure but also a powerful biological weapon. Chimera was stolen by a rogue IMF agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott, the prince in "Ever After"). To get to Ambrose, Ethan recruits the villain's former lover, cat burglar Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton of "Gridlock'd" and
"Beloved"). In the process Ethan falls in love with Nyah but still has to serve her up to the enemy. (The homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious," where Cary Grant was in the same fix with Ingrid Bergman, is made explicit with
a horse-racing scene similar to one in the 1946 film.) While Nyah smoozes Ambrose, Ethan gets some help from his old pal Luther (Ving Rhames) and a new Aussie agent (John Polson).
Much action follows: car chases, explosions, shoot-outs, kung fu fighting, and,
of course, Tom Cruise dangling from a wire. Each sequence shows the hand of a master action stylist at work. Woo belongs to the same pantheon as Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone. "M:I-2" is not a polished, soulless Hollywood product like the first "Mission: Impossible" movie. Instead, it is an impassioned and intense experience where usually tepid action scenes become something strangely beautiful. Woo juxtaposes poetic images like doves and waves crashing against the shore with violence that is both brutal and graceful. Woo communicates through a visual shorthand all his own. The sudden
love of Ethan and Nyah is communicated through a scene where they are both driving sportscars that are spinning out of control in unison; their eyes meet as the cars near the cliff. This may sound like the triumph of style over substance, but with a director like Woo the style is the substance.
Scott makes an excellent villain: calculating, angry, almost seething with evil. Newton is an unusual, even progressive, choice for leading lady. She's not beautiful in any conventional Hollywood sense, but she is a fine actress. Two of the biggest names associated with "M:I-2," Ving Rhames and Anthony Hopkins (who plays Ethan's boss), have relatively little to do. Rhames mostly sits at a laptop computer and talks on the radio, and Hopkins only appears in two scenes.
Tom Cruise still can't act. You'd think someone making $20 million per picture
would take some drama lessons. There's more acting required in "M:I-2" than one might assume. Woo's style puts more emphasis on looks and gestures than on
dialogue, and Cruise fails to communicate essential emotions. Woo's perennial star Chow Yun-Fat excelled at looking cool and confident, but Cruise can't even
manage that. As always, he comes off like a cocky frat-boy who needs his butt kicked, a perception that's getting a little weird as he nears 40. (There's a great moment in the movie where Scott comments on Cruise's constant smirk.)
"M:I-2" is probably the best action film we'll see this year. It's the best American contribution to the genre in several years (might have to go back to 1995's "Desperado"). Big-budget summer flicks are usually aimed at the lowest common denominator. For the sake of better movies, I hope this one does well despite the risky business of making so stylized product.
Bottom line: John Woo rocks!
© 2000 Christian L. Pyle
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