Mission: Impossible II
***
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Warner Village (Birkenhead)
Released in the UK by UIP on July 7, 2000; certificate 15; 124 minutes; country
of origin USA; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by John Woo; produced by Tom
Cruise, Paula Wagner. Written by Robert Towne; based on
a story by Ramon Braga, Ronald D. Moore; from the television
series created by Bruce Geller. Photographed by Jeffrey L.
Kimball; edited by Christian Wagner.
CAST.....
Tom Cruise..... Ethan Hunt
Dougray Scott..... Sean Ambrose
Thandie Newton..... Nyah Hall
Richard Roxburgh..... Hugh Stamp
John Polson..... Billy Baird
Brendan Gleeson..... McCloy
Rade Sherbedgia..... Dr. Nekhorvich
Ving Rhames..... Luther Stickell
"Mission: Impossible II" is not
quite the equal of its predecessor -- Brian De Palma's 1996 adaptation of
the hit TV show was a modern classic in action cinema -- but it is an effective
spectacle of violence. It could have been better. It could also have been
worse. Since we get to see Tom Cruise looking firm and strong, wearing cool
clothes, fighting hard, working out genius plans and blowing stuff up, it's
good enough for me.
And make no mistake about it, "Mission: Impossible
II" is all about Cruise. Gone is the teamwork that figured so prominently
both on television and in the original film: Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt,
is now the centre of attention. Even though he's aided by two other secret
agents who come out of retirement to help him, a woman who injects herself
with poison to assist his cause, and a boss played by Anthony Hopkins, these
people are pushed into the background to make the main man look that little
bit more heroic.
As pretty much every review of the film has mentioned,
this can't help but resemble James Bond. De Palma's cool white visuals and
playfully complex plot have been replaced by exotic locations and a predictable
tale of a turncoat agent hijacking a deadly chemical virus. Taut structure
has been forgone in favour of long scenes with a love interest, and a big
showdown in the bad guy's lair. Set-pieces have been lifted from "Mission:
Impossible" such as Cruise's dangling from a ceiling to steal information,
as well as trademarks like the rubber-mask disguises, but nothing that stops
"Mission: Impossible II" from being a one-man show.
It's a good one, though. The director, John Woo,
is a god among action filmmakers. His techniques in movies like "Hard-Boiled"
influenced Hollywood, then Woo himself moved to the States and started making
pictures in which the style was a mixture of originality, ripping himself
off, and ripping off America. You're assured an efficient summer thrill ride
when a guy like that gets a project like this -- it has a great star,
groundbreaking stunts, expensive effects, slow-motion, fast motion, repetition...
so much showiness has been crammed into "Mission: Impossible II" that future
film students will use it as a reference for action genre trends of the late
1990s.
Where can the "M: I" franchise go from here? I
have a clear idea, although I'm not so sure that the same can be said for
the studio. They have assigned Woo to direct a third picture, but I'm not
keen on that idea, because it probably means we'll get a retread of this
one. James Bond is allowed to repeat himself, but repeating his repetitions
sounds boring as hell. The best thing to do is get a different established
director to tackle each sequel. We've had De Palma and Woo -- wouldn't you
like to see the attempts of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese,
George Lucas and Ron Howard? Keep the series going by making each new instalment
a showcase for a great artist -- don't let it self-destruct in three
movies.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
2000 Reviews
(alphabetical)
2000 Reviews (by star
rating)
Archive of all cinema reviews
(alphabetical)
Review Archive
Index
UK
Critic main page
|
![[Image]](http://www.ukcritic.com/posbanr2.gif)