Mission: Impossible II (2000)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

John Woo

Writers (WGA):

Bruce Geller (creator television series Mission: Impossible)
Ronald D. Moore (story) ...

Release Date:

24 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Expect the impossible again

Plot:

A secret agent is sent to Sydney, to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera"

Plot Keywords:

Mission | Thief | Scientist | Virus | Love Interest

Awards:

9 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Ethan Hunt
Dougray Scott	...	Sean Ambrose
Thandie Newton	...	Nyah Nordoff-Hall
Ving Rhames	...	Luther Stickell
Richard Roxburgh	...	Hugh Stamp
John Polson	...	Billy Baird
Brendan Gleeson	...	John C. McCloy
Rade Serbedzija	...	Dr. Nekhorvich (as Radé Sherbedgia)
William Mapother	...	Wallis
Dominic Purcell	...	Ulrich
Mathew Wilkinson	...	Michael
Nicholas Bell	...	Accountant
Cristina Brogers	...	Flamenco Dancer
Kee Chan	...	Chemist
Kim Fleming	...	Larrabee

Also Known As:

M:I-2 (USA) (DVD box title (promotional abbreviation))
Mission: Impossible 2 (USA) (alternative spelling)
Mission: Impossible II (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some sensuality.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #36722) | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:18SG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:TE | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Argyle Place, The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

According to Robert Towne, much of his script was written around action scenes that director John Woo told him he wanted to able to direct in the movie.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The cliffs Nyah is about to jump off are east of Sydney but Luther and Billy fly west over the city to get there. Further, they are much more than the stated two kilometers away.

Quotes:

Dr. Nekhorvich: Every search for a hero must begin with something which every hero requires, a villain.

Movie Connections:

References Notorious (1946)

Soundtrack:

ALBA Y CAMINO

What went wrong??

I'll tell you what went wrong. Some idiot at Paramount decided to hire John Woo to direct this movie, the sequel to Mission: Impossible, the big-screen remake of the classic 60's TV show of the same name. Woo has, seemingly effortlessly, ruined the still-young Mission: Impossible franchise and degraded it into the worst possible thing: a mindless, moronic, idiotic, dumb and lame-brained 90's action schlock. After getting through this horrendous movie, I genuinely thought I would break down and burst into tears.

The reason for crying stems not from the fact that the film is so bad, as one would expect, but because Mission: Impossible II has practically ruined the film franchise, which looked so, so promising. Veteran filmmaker Brian De Palma directed the first Mission: Impossible film, and it was a class, edgy and intelligent thriller, and one which appropriately focused more on the espionage aspect rather than the action factor. It was superior, a cut above the rest and was a genuinely great blockbuster movie. However in this sequel, allegedly-veteran filmmaker John Woo proves that he can spit out idiotic action movies without even trying, just like an assembly line. Sometimes some of these movies are actually decent, affirming the action genre as Woo's forte; however other times these movies turn out disastrously, despite his best intentions. Mission: Impossible II is one of these dud assembly line products, and it's literally a fan's worst nightmare.

It's the exact opposite of its predecessor; where De Palma's movie was intelligent, Woo's movie is not. Where the first movie was classy, this sequel is clumsy. Where the original movie was entertaining, this movie only proves to diverting. Yes, Mission: Impossible II still manages to make a diverting movie, and a mildly enjoyable flick; however the rest of the movie is just so bad, so repugnant and so poorly-made that the entertainment factor can only do so much for the film. In other words, the negatives far outweigh the positives.

The biggest downfall of the film, like I've mentioned, is that Mission: Impossible II is an action movie, instead of the thriller or suspense flick that it should be. It doesn't do justice to the original TV series, which is essentially its source material, and deviates on its own foolish path of destruction, mayhem and explosions. It dumbs down what was a classy and smart franchise, and as a result we can't help but be frustrated when we're watching this film; the action scenes are completely implausible – even escaping the most powerful abilities of suspension of disbelief – the scenarios are totally far-fetched and the overall story is preposterous and contrived. Mind you, action films are as good as any, and if Woo transposed Mission: Impossible into the action genre successfully then I might be lauding him at this moment; however, it falls short of being a good action movie, let alone a good one, so 'lauding' is totally out of the question.

The reason why Mission: Impossible II even fails as an action movie, even though it's directed by a veteran of the genre, is the film's plot, which is lifted straight up from the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie Notorious – a unique place to find inspiration for a plot, but the story proves to be vapid here. As I mentioned earlier, it's a preposterous story, one which is both ridiculous and convoluted at the same time. Cruise reprises his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, and here he's off to Sydney, Australia to outwit, outsmart and outmanoeuvre a rogue IMF agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) who's in possession of a deadly and unstoppable virus. And of course, there's a girl in the equation – played by the drop-dead Thandie Newton – who's caught up in a love triangle between the three. Hunt, who's become romantically involved with the girl, is devastated when he realises she must pretend to fall in love with Ambrose in order to steal the virus from behind his back.

It's clichéd, corny, cheesy and hard to follow; the story is tiresome and makes the movie as a whole tiresome. To top it off, we're bombarded with ridiculous action scenes, which are well-shot and well-crafted but unfortunately too far-fetched to be deemed enjoyable. Woo's direction is also less than satisfactory, as he inserts scenes of supposedly dramatic depth and emotion into the lifeless screenplay. Dramatic pauses, reflective slow-motion shots, ooh, ah. It simply doesn't work together, and as a result Mission: Impossible II is a film where all the technical aspects are in a shambles.

Don't even get me started on the movie's climax, which involves Hunt cruising around on a motorcycle dodging bullets, cars and helicopters. Dreadful flashbacks of the lesser movies of Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal haunt our minds, and Woo resurrects them with this movie mercilessly. It's a 90's action movie made in the 2000's, and is a film so outdated, so clichéd and so unfashionable that it can make on nauseous.

The movie does prove to be entertaining though, and it does pass the time effectively, hence achieving one fundamental film goal. However, let me say that there are much better movies to pass the time with, and Mission: Impossible II is not worthwhile at all. It's embarrassing to watch and is a shameful movie, one which brings back bad memories of a now-bygone era, shows off its incredibly low I.Q., and makes us wish that one of those stray bullets in the movie can find a target out of us.