I was never a big fan of 'Mission Impossible', the TV series, however, I did watch it from time to time. Personally, I liked 'Macgyver' better, given it was one man finding ways through impossible situations. I am a fan of thrillers and action movies, even if I have to put up with too many things blowing up these days to see them. Tom Cruise is back in his Ethan Hunt role for this sequel, although he gets to play more characters as this film is filled with people impersonating others in the all too perfect faces for which MI is famous. He gets a new love interest, the incredibly beautiful Thandie Newton, who plays a master thief, Nyah. If you watch this movie only to see her, it's worth it. I can think of only one or two actresses that are more beautiful than her. In addition, she is a good actress.
This script is much less suspenseful than the first. The story is obviously not as well thought out. There are certainly some good twists (mainly dealing with mistaken identities). The spinning cars scene is perhaps the most famous scene in the movie and a bit too heavy on the supposed intensity. John Woo is an expert at making collisions and destructions look like ballet, however, he may have overdone it on some scenes in this movie.
Ving Rhames is also back and personally, I think he's one that's better in this movie than the first. Dougray Scott plays Ambrose, Nyah's old flame and Ethan's nemesis for two reasons. One because he's kissing Ethan's new flame and two because he's the evil mastermind behind the evil plan. To say Anthony Hopkins is in this movie is almost a lie. He barely makes an appearance, although he does have one of the best lines comparing mission impossible to mission difficult.
As always, it is impossible to keep from comparing a sequel to its original. In this case, it is the same as it is often. It's a good attempt, but not nearly as successful. I felt like the story ended up being a bunch of smaller scenes that were pieced together. Something was missing in the telling. Perhaps there should have been more to the intrigue and deception and less to the destruction.
When you put John Woo and Tom Cruise together, you hope for more. In this case, they give audiences a decent movie. The acting was average (some more so than others). The directing was above average, but below John Woo standards. The cinematography was below average (and sometimes a mess). The writing was below average, mainly due to its lack of cohesion and poor dialogue. If you like action thrillers or are a Tom Cruise fan (or simply want to watch Thandie Newton on screen), this is a good rental. Otherwise, you might want to look to re-watch the first one again instead.
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