If you took all of the slow motion footage from Mission Impossible:2 and ran it at normal speed, the movie would be about half as long. Which isn’t to say that director John Woo doesn’t know how to use slow motion to dramatic effect, it’s just that he uses it a lot. Birds flying, scarves blowing, cars spinning: all in slow motion. It’s almost relaxing. Personally, I’m a sucker for a good visual, and Woo is nearly unequaled among movie directors in his ability to create elaborately staged action sequences. Not surprisingly, the action in MI:2 (have you noticed that ever since Independence Day made a jillion dollars after being sold as ID4, there has been an increasing number of title abbreviations that fit perfectly on t-shirts?) is the best thing about it.
Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt, super spy. This time he’s after former colleague turned nemesis Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who’s in possession of a virus and its antidote created at an evil corporate bio-lab for financial gain. The assignment he chooses to accept involves assembling a team that’s beautiful (Thandie Newton as classy thief Nyah Hall) as well as ready with a one-liner (the always entertaining Ving Rhames) to destroy the virus and save the world. One of the reasons Mission Impossible:2 is better than its predecessor is that the plot is actually comprehensible. Written by Robert Towne (Chinatown), the story wisely doesn’t try to compete with the chase scenes. Then again, the writing is not what you’d expect from someone as accomplished as Robert Towne. But I’m sure he has bills to pay, just like the rest of us.
The primary reason this movie is the rare case of a sequel being better than the original is John Woo. His style of film-making is distinct, just what the franchise needed, though I couldn’t help wonder if Woo wasn’t given total license. Brian DePalma (the director of the original) has been a great director in the past, but the script for the first one was such a mess that the movie felt out of his control. In MI:2, the action sequences revolve around the plot instead of interrupting it. Unfortunately, saying the plot in this sequel is better than the first isn’t really saying much. It drags in places, makes canyon-size leaps over logic, and expects the audience to ignore the laws of the universe, which they will, in huge opening weekend numbers.
John Woo is a choreographer with cars and guns. Sometimes the sequences are comically elaborate, causing hoots and forehead slapping, but who cares? It doesn’t matter that in real life, Ethan Hunt would have gone tumbling off the rocks, making for a fifteen-minute movie. Mission Impossible:2 is the beginning of Hollywood’s annual big-budget suspension of disbelief.
+ David Kern
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