Review of 'Mission: Impossible II'
2nd film in the 'Mission: Impossible' series
You know with John Woo directing this film will be an action-heavy and it certainly is after the more cerebral first [/reviews/film/action/811|Mission: Impossible]] outing.
We start with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) performing some spectacular free-climbing of a sheer rock face. At the summit he receives his orders to track down rogue agent Ambrose (Dougray Scott) who has stollen a super-virus named “Chimera” created by the now late Russian scientist Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija). Ethan recruits Ambrose's ex-girlfriend and diamond thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton) who, after electronically tagging, he arranges to have thrown in prison where she is freed by Ambrose. Ethan tracks Nyah with Luther (Ving Rhames) & Aussie helicopter pilot Billy Baird (John Polson) as they try to learn what Ambrose is going to with the virus along with the antidote “Bellerophon”. As Nyah works undercover in Ambrose's group Ethan's team learn that John McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), the CEO of Biocyte which employed Nekhorvich, is negotiating with Ambrose on the sale of the virus and anti-virus. After Nyah's deception is uncovered it is up to Ethan's team to rescue her and destroy the virus from a secure facility on the 42nd floor of the Biocyte building..but Ambrose has other plans.
This second film starts as it means to go on with loads of action and incredible stunts with Cruise performing most of the stunts himself. The plot is reasonably complex with story elements weaving together into something that makes a good amount of sense by the time the credits role. In this film we see Hunt become romantically involved and so having a personal stake in putting the bad guy away.
It is good to see Ving Rhames return as team member Luther to bring some continuity to the story (other than Ethan himself) after the first film when most of the cast ended up either dead or in prison. The IMF seem to have huge security issues with agents getting killed left right and centre, turning to the “dark side” or going “rogue” much like Ethan himself who seems to have little regard to procedure. Their operating licence needs to be SERIOUSLY reconsidered.
The film is slick, looks great, has a pulsating soundtrack and frenetic directing side that makes it an amazing to watch though perhaps not for those expecting more nuance. It will certainly appeal to the summer blockbuster and popcorn crowd looking for some huge action sequences. Of course it would not be Mission: Impossible without a few twists and turns, of which there are many though most seem to rely on the “realistic looking mask” trick we saw in the first film. It is seriously overdone here with it hard to keep track of who most of the time - Is it Ethan wearing a mask pretending to be someone else or is it someone else pretending to be Ethan? It wears a bit thin after a while and the surprise is somewhat diminished.
A seriously up-tempo second outing for Ethan Hunt as we are treated to tremendous action sequences, a twisty plot and some pumping music. Curl up. Turn off your brain, grab some popcorn and a drink, and soak it all in.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2025-06-07
Directed by: John Woo
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Year: 2000
Length: 123 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120755/