Mission: Impossible II

 

Mission: Impossible II is a great example of an American action movie that would have been better as a Hong Kong action movie. It has all the style a John Woo movie should: doves, slow-motion action that ramps up to fast motion, dangerous and thrilling stunts, a one man army character, and of course duel-wielding two Beretta handguns. Mission: Impossible II's problems are that there isn't enough action early on, the emotional moments feel unearned, and at times there seems to be a real lack of stakes and tension for a movie like this. 

Synopsis: "Tom Cruise returns to his role as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of 'Mission: Impossible.' This time Ethan Hunt leads his IMF team on a mission to capture a deadly German virus before it is released by terrorists. His mission is made impossible due to the fact that he is not the only person after samples of the disease. He must also contest with a gang of international terrorists headed by a turned bad former IMF agent who has already managed to steal the cure."

The opening itself, while it has a good reveal, is underwhelming. It does setup that the villain, Sean Ambrose, played by Scotsman Dougray Scott, is adept at impersonating Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) underneath a mask and he is willing to kill innocent people to get what he wants.  The opening then quickly transitions to Cruise as Ethan Hunt climbing a rock mountain. While there is some impressive stunt work, the scene feels completely unnecessary. Unnecessary is key word for a lot of things in this film. There are too many close ups of people staring at others. There is too many slow-motion sequences of people walking or moving and their hair blowing the wind. Tom Cruise spends most of the movie performing, whether it's smirking or trying to look brooding with a certain look in his eyes. The sequel to this movie did a better job trying to have him act emotionally rather than just look a certain way. The relationship between him and Thandie Newton is unearned. After he foils a robbery of hers they get into a car chase near a cliffside, (Hey Goldeneye) and then he saves her life after nearly running her off the cliff. This all happens about a half an hour into the film by the way and we finally get to actual mission about 35 minutes in. All of the sudden they are in love. Her motivations seem to change at random times throughout the film as well, such as when she suddenly grows a conscious and decides to inject herself with a deadly bioweapon. Masks are used too many times in this film and not as effectively as in the sequels. It almost becomes a cliche. Who knew the director of Face/Off would be a fan of masks right? 

While I've been focusing on the negative there are some great moments in the second half, particularly from the hour and 20 mark onwards. Tom Cruise looks every bit the Hong Kong action star. He actually looks just as good with martial arts and physicality as Jean Claude Van-Damme did in one of John Woo's other American productions, Hard Target. He does some really impressive flip kicks, backflips, dropkicks, somersaults, hanging from ceilings, falls, and he looks great holding a Beretta in each hand. There are some highly impressive stunts. Everything from the motorcycle chase including the two men fighting each other and catching each other off the motorcycles is impressive. There is a moment at the end where apparently a real knife was used that went right near Cruise's eye for a close-up. While the first hour has it's share of flaws there are some truly memorable moments like anytime a character takes off a mask. A great moment of suspense is when Ethan takes off the mask of the Russian scientist who made the virus. At the same time the movie cuts between him in the mask and the real Tom Cruise talking to Thandie Newton outside the villain's compound. The reveal where it turns out to be Ambrose wearing a mask of Cruise's face is one of the few thrilling moments. Look for Richard Roxburgh as Ambrose's right hand man who has some charisma as a sadistic henchman. While I don't think Thandie Newton and Tom Cruise's relationship is at all earned she is absolutely stunning in this movie. There is one hilarious moment where she undresses in front of Dougray Scott and he gets the most predatory look ever while ogling her. While creepy, it is funny. If someone told me to list the top 10 most beautiful characters in movies ever she might make the cut. It's a shame though because she isn't given enough to do. While the first half of the movie is underwhelming and slow, the second half has enough action moments to make it fun. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Gun(s) of the movie: Beretta 92FS Brigadier and Beretta 92FS Compact

Trivia: Dougray Scott turned down the role of Wolverine in X-Men to play the villain in this movie