Click The Banner Above To Support This Site
|
The Movie: Let's face it. Paramount certainly wanted a franchise after releasing the first "Mission:Impossible" back in 1996. The question was, after that film, was the series really something we wanted to see continued? Although director Brian Depalma's effort didn't always spark, thankfully the work of director John Woo has made the second edition in the series something definitely worthy of additional episodes. Woo takes a little too long to get going during the "set-up", and there could have been some editing done to this early portion of the film. I have to give the filmmaker credit though - the first hour may be slow, but it's never painful. The film launches into an opening setting up the story - a rogue IMF agent named Sean Ambrose(Dougray Scott, making for a suprisingly decent bad guy after his role in "Ever After") has his sights on a deadly biological weapon. Hunt's IMF force (led by Anthony Hopkins, who is around for a matter of minutes in the film) recruits the villian's ex-girlfriend(played by the wonderful Thandie Newton) to get information. There is a romantic subplot between Cruise and Newton, but it kinda gets tossed out the window sometime around the 75 minute mark. Newton is extremely impressive in her first action role, having fine chemistry with Cruise and the ability to play intense drama amidst all the chaos. Cruise is suprisingly good as well, improving greatly from the first film with a bit of a sharper, darker character - he actually looks like he's having fun here, at times. And last definitely not least, Ving Rhames is back again and has some of the best moments in the picture(the crowd cheered during his first appearance in the film). It's a wonderful cast that works well off of one another and once it launches, it makes for wonderful entertainment, with a break-in scene that is similar to the famed break-in from the first film, but it takes it all to the next level. Complaints are minor - the story is a little smoother this time, and there are some entertaining twists, but the dialogue remains weak at times. There could have been some more editing done to the first hour and also, there are a few too many slo-mo shots. Aside from that though, a lot credit goes to cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball, who has created a bold visual look for this film after also doing stunning work last year with "Stigmata". Sound effects editor Tony Lamberti("End Of Days", "Godzilla", "Mission To Mars" has also done a fine job creating an exciting audio experience. "Mission: 2" did begin to wear my patience thin during the opening half once or twice, but once it gets going, the second half contains enough outstanding action to wipe any complaints about the slow opening away. Cruise is great, Newton is fantastic and Rhames is very good, as well.I had fun - and really, what more is there to a film like this one? After this film, I'm hoping for more editions of this series. *** 1/2 |