May is the month of “M:I,” as we look back at the six “Mission: Impossible” films from May 2-10. Next up is the second entry, “Mission: Impossible II” (2000):
A product of its time
When I saw “Mission: Impossible II” in theaters 20 years ago I found it to be a colossally dumb action movie that thinks it’s cooler than it is. That hasn’t changed, but I find it oddly endearing now as a time capsule of a type of movie we’ll never see again.
Whereas 1996’s “Mission: Impossible” is a quaint throwback to the slow-burn intrigue of the “M:I” TV series, the sequel from director John Woo – completely full of himself after we all gave him too much praise for 1997’s “Face/Off” – glories in turn-of-the-millennium excesses.
“Mission: Impossible II” (2000)
Director: John Woo
Writers: Bruce Geller, Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga
Stars: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton
The unintentional humor outstrips the thrills by the time we reach the final beach showdown between hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise, having grown into his adult looks in four years) and villain Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Woo and his editors cut away to crashing waves and composer Hans Zimmer loads up on choral music. This is sandwiched between a mid-air motorcycle-collision explosion and a Metallica song over the closing credits.
And yet …
It starts strong
While I’m glad we’ve outgrown the Woo and Michael Bay brand of bombast as a culture, there is a lot to recommend in the Sydney-set “M:I 2” before the good things get blown out of your consciousness. Thandie Newton, as cat burglar Nyah Hall, is cute as hell as Hunt’s love interest; the actress looks up with innocent eyes and a wide smile, such a contrast from hardened Maeve on “Westworld.”
Screenwriter Robert Towne – returning from the original and working from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga – establishes a fast yet believable love connection between Ethan and Nyah, then throws her in with her ex-boyfriend, Sean, as part of an Impossible Missions Force plan.
Cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball lavishly showcases a fire-lit evening parade through the streets as the budding lovebirds watch from the balcony. IMF handler Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) gives instructions to Hunt in a mahogany room.
Hunt teams up with Luther (Ving Rhames, back from the first one) and Billy (John Polson) at a safehouse amid an outback landscape that looks like another planet. The intrigue kicks in at the Australian horse races as Nyah gets her first test, playing Sean for Ethan’s sake.
The first hour of “M:I 2” is dripping with style, but it doesn’t give in to excess, although Cruise’s portrayal of Hunt flirts with overconfidence and Ambrose is my least-favorite type of baddie – the overly emotional kind. He cuts off the tip of henchman Hugh’s (Richard Roxburgh) finger so we know how ruthless he is. I prefer villains – such as in the first film — who calmly focus on their goal.
Arguably dumber than ‘Face/Off’
In the second hour, Woo’s treatment of face-switching is arguably dumber than in “Face/Off.” I appreciate how Cruise scowls when Sean wears Hunt’s face; I was able to follow those face-switches. But there’s a part amid the closing fury of action at Ambrose’s compound wherein Hunt and Hugh switch faces.
In retrospect, Hunt planned ahead and carried masks of himself and Hugh for just this scenario. While the “M:I” films are all about detailed advance planning – indeed, a break-in to destroy the maguffin (a deadly virus) is a beefed-up version of the original’s CIA vault break-in – this mask thing is almost a step too far.
There’s also a head-scratching segment where Sean’s team kidnaps a potential buyer of the virus – Brendan Gleeson’s McCloy – and makes it look like McCloy is infected with the virus, just so Hunt will track down McCloy (while posing as the co-developer of the virus) and reveal the next step of his plan.
Then the bad guys somehow wipe McCloy’s memory of the whole thing. While the logic technically lines up, I suspect Thorne didn’t quite figure out how to make this play more believably by the time the final draft was due.
Out there fighting for us
As noted, “M:I 2’s” plot centers on a virus. McCloy and Ambrose aim to release Chimera into the population then get rich by selling the antidote, Bellerophon. Conspiracy theorists who believe COVID-19 is a bioweapon that accidentally got released from a Chinese lab might find this plot timely in 2020. But mostly it’s a filmic device.
That said, the plot does show us a type of mission this outfit is intended for. The original’s plot is a closed loop wherein IMF aims to stop bad guys from harming IMF. In the sequel, a viewer thinks “It’s nice to have Ethan Hunt out there fighting for us.”
If Woo and his team weren’t so full of their sense of flair in the final act, this could have been a thrilling story of heroism rather than an amusing slice of 2000. That said, “Mission: Impossible II’s” style choices have aged so poorly – almost wiping out the top-shelf stunt work and heroic characters — that I feel some sympathy for the solid movie at its core.
Schedule of reviews
Saturday, May 2: “Mission: Impossible” (1996)
Sunday, May 3: “Mission: Impossible II” (2000)
Wednesday, May 6: “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)
Thursday, May 7: “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” (2011)
Saturday, May 9: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)
Sunday, May 10: “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)
Also of interest: Shaune’s rankings of the six “Mission: Impossible” films