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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (PG-13)

Reviewed May 28, 2000 - Check out the Mission: Impossible 2 Website.

Studio Synopsis: Tom Cruise and John Woo, two of the most compelling figures in the world of film, have teamed up for "M:I-2," a romantic action thriller that plunges special agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) into an international crisis of terrifying magnitude. With computer genius Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) at his side and a beautiful thief (Thandie Newton) on his mind, Hunt races across Australia and Spain on what seems like an impossible mission — to stop a villain before he can fulfill his own destructive mission.

Fuzzydog Review: Mission: Impossible 2 is a film that can be both boring and brilliant.  With a wonderfully executed opening stunt sequence that will leave you breathless, M:I-2 starts off grabbing you tightly by the throat, leaving you thinking to yourself, "oh my God, this is going to be good!"  And then, as quickly as M:I-2 takes you up, it manages to bring you down.  Big time.  For the next hour and a half or so, M:I-2 quickly deteriorates into a slow, plodding storyline, with not much in the way of action, and not much in the way of character development.  Ho-hum is how this movie feels up until the last half hour, when director Woo cranks it up for one final extended stunt/fight sequence.  Smash and crash, spin and fire...it's all suddenly there in all the gorgeous, stylized elegance that Woo can imbue onto the screen.  And then you think to yourself, "oh my God, this is great!!" 

Yup, it's a rollercoaster ride, and somewhere between "ho-hum" and "this is great!" lies the essence of M:I-2.  This is an action film with style to spare...a great mix of exotic locales, jawdropping stunts, beautiful women, and ultracool techno-gadgets that at its best surpasses most 007 efforts of recent memory.  Tom Cruise is absolutely convincing as the action hero, Ving Rhames is absolutely hilarious as the loveable sidekick, and you will see motorcycles do things here that you never imagined motorcycles could do.  It's all well and good, really, and overall M:I-2 definitely manages to entertain...if only that hour in the middle weren't so sl-o-o-o-w...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

bandit-6@iname.com gives this movie  stars: "Stupid, predictable, and simplistic. Need I say more? PS I thought the first was very good!" (7/14/00)

danewheat@dmci.net gives this movie  stars: "This movie is great! Best action movie i've seen all summer.Very clever and well thought out. Also Tom Cruise did all his own stunts for this movie at least that's what I've heard so you got give em that!" (6/30/00)

munthir gives this movie  stars: "as much as i like woo's work he needs tocus on one theme per movie instead of cramming all sorts of action themes in one movie. The ending was ripped off from FACE OFF except there was a bike scene instead of a boat scene before the villan vs. hero fight on the beach. " (6/11/00)

gillianlover@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Disappointing." (6/9/00)

darth_davo@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars. (6/4/00)

rainy_kate@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "Fab! A movie with no nudity, swearing and it DID have ol' fashioned fist fighting. The "impossible" stunts were fun!" (5/31/00)