Review of Mission: Impossible II (2000) by Matthew B — 29 Aug 2015

If Tom Cruise can really climb freestyle up a rock face and live to tell the tale, then I want to know how he does that and about twenty other crazy features this movie has to offer. Yes Mission: Impossible is back for a second round and features ridiculous stunts, a kind of storyline more suited to James Bond in the 60's and Tom Cruise going absolutely crazy with the fighting. I didn't like this film and although far from hating it, the movie didn't give me much reason to like it at all, with silly things added in here and there as well, well let's go over it shall we.

First off you have the stunts, done well and the only thing I will fully remember from this movie but also that this has long droughts without any action and then suddenly has too much. Tom Cruise comes back in the same style he has in the first instalment boasting some over the top fight sequences and also longer hair. The story is for me in certain scenes a little too convoluted, now the entire story as a whole isn't but parts are, they defy logic at certain times and some moments are not well explained and really try too hard to draw you in to a plot I just couldn't invest in.

Now what to say about good old John Woo, well to put it in simple terms I really did not enjoy his directing. His style is so insane it just makes normal scenes turn into a crazed stand off and then don't even get me started on the pacing. I can't really say he directs the actors well either and although the cast are fine and all that, his direction can make some scenes just a little dumb and yet again confusing and repetitive. Robert Towne is a legend of screen writing but my word does it look like he has lost it here, I'm not saying this is a career ruin for him not by a long shot but Towne could have done so much better and written something memorable, not just some generic stuff. Staying behind the camera well on the camera maybe is the cinematography which is done well, I liked the nice sweeping shots and angles which change the scene completely, wasn't too sure on the close ups of the face but in general some good stuff.

I think if you're going to make a spy film at least put the action in and spread it out, here it is all concentrated in the same place and so it becomes boring after a while, even with the insane stunts. I think we should have seen more of the suspense that at times the first movie brought to the table, too often in this Cruise or should I say Ethan Hunt just does things at a fast pace with no thrill to it. A better villain as well for me would have been better, sure Dougray Scott and his henchmen could be bad but that true terror I did not see, a poor casting choice all round and should have been easier to absolutely hate.

This film isn't all bad I admit it has it's moments of genius actually and although I think Cruise is not great in this or the first Mission: Impossible, I can't deny he has a lot of spy style. If you liked the first movie then you should have no problems liking this one too, the stunts and the action are enough I felt to satisfy MI fans. For anyone else please be directed to take your brain out before viewing this, it is popcorn movie stuff and I don't think the plot is smart. So overall I do feel this is poor and not really an addition I think Cruise deserves to have in his film catalogue, he is not good here, not bad but not good and I think spy films do not gain anything extra from having this among their ranks.