Director: John Woo
Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott and Anthony Hopkins
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 126 minutes

THE SKINNY
Super-agent fights to stop evil turncoat from infecting the world with a deadly virus.

THE BOTTOM LINE
The perfect summer movie.

THE FULL REVIEW
Summer films are all about action and special effects. This is why Mission: Impossible 2, which is rather light on plot, is still able to deliver in such a big way. In order to outdo the success of the first Mission: Impossible film - it grossed in excess of $400 million at box-offices worldwide - the film’s star and co-producer, Tom Cruise, recruited Hong Kong director John Woo, whose films are know for their incredibly stylistic action sequences.

In this follow-up to 1996’s Mission: Impossible, Cruise, hot off his Golden Globe award for the supporting role he played in Magnolia, once again plays the part of super-agent Ethan Hunt. Hunt, along with sidekick Luther Stickell, played by Ving Rhames (Bringing Out the Dead, Out of Sight, Rosewood) are up against former agent-turned-villain Sean Ambrose, played by Dougray Scott (Ever After, Deep Impact, Princess Caraboo). Ambrose has plotted to make himself billions by unleashing on the world a deadly virus for which he controls the cure. Thrown into the mix is international thief Nyah Hall, an exotic beauty played by Thandie Newton (Beloved, Jefferson in Paris, Flirting), who becomes the love interest of Hunt while being used as a pawn in the scheme to capture Ambrose.

None of this much matters, however, since the plot serves as nothing more than the glue that holds together the real substance of this film: a series of wonderfully choreographed action sequences that are as much fun to watch as they are impossible to believe. Among the more spectacular sequences bearing Woo’s trademark stylized super-slow motion camera work are an “edge-of-your-seat” motorcycle chase and a high-speed game of chicken between Hunt and Hall that climaxes with their Porsche and Audi roadster literally dancing with one another as they spin out of control. And if that’s not enough, the film contains numerous fight scenes filled with tricky martial-arts maneuvers and a harrowing rock climbing scene that practically takes your breath away.

As an indication of how integral a role the action scenes play in M:I-2, the film’s screenwriter Robert Towne admits to having had to write the story around the action instead of the action around the story. In fact, according to Entertainment Weekly magazine, most of the film’s action sequences were well into preproduction before Towne had written his first word. This is what makes MI-2 so easy to enjoy. The film’s creators don’t pretend to believe that the story is what will drive filmgoers into the theaters to see a film such as this.

As terrific as Woo is at creating great action sequences, it is Tom Cruise’s screen presence that enables these scenes to jump off the screen. No other actor could exude as much energy nor look so cool as Cruise does playing the part of Ethan Hunt. Thandie Newton manages to hold her own in a part that offers little opportunity for the actress to demonstrate any talent other than her physical appearance. Both Dougray Scott and Richard Roxburgh, who plays Amrose’s right-hand man, are convincing as Hunt’s evil adversaries.

Lest you think that everything works well in M:I-2, it should be noted that the screenwriters needlessly attempted to smarten up the script by having Ambrose seek his payoff in a nonsensical stock option scheme rather than plain cash. This came across as silly and out of place given how simple the rest of the plot was. Also, unlike the first M:I, which offered a sensational new take on the series’ hallmark theme song, Limp Bizkit fails to add much to the song in M:I-2. Still, minor flaws such as these are easy to overlook while being treated to nearly two hours of such stylishly delivered action.

By: Craig Ettinger