Mission: Impossible series: Mission: Impossible 2 review

Now that I have reviewed the first film in the series, the day after I saw the sequel Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). In my opinion, I didn't think that the sequel was a good movie. I'll admit the series so far hasn't impressed me as much as I thought it would have but there's enough time for that to change with the other movies in the series.

The film takes place 4 years after the first with Hunt being sent on a mission by Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins)  to stop a disease called 'Chimera' that has the potential to wipe-out the whole of Australia and if large enough the world. In order to do this he is allowed to recruit a team but one of them has to be Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton) the ex of the main villain Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott).

This time round the films director is John Woo who is known for doing Face/Off staring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta and plenty of Chinese films in the 80's. Personally, I preferred De Palma's direction in the first film as it was suspenseful tense spy thriller and is quite a unique film for it's time. But Woo's vision seems to be almost like Hunt it the American equivalent to James Bond (which could be true). I now future films take this direction going forward but to me I preferred the thriller the first movie was, as it was something different. However this could be the direction Paramount wanted for the series as well so I guess it could be 50/50.

I've said quite a few negatives so far so I'll go on to the good moments that the movie has to offer. Cruise does a good performance as Hunt and Ving Rhames also does a good performance as Luther the only character aside from Hunt that returns from the first one. I never talked about Luther in my review of the first film but I like the character and interested to see him back in other movies. The fight choreography is good, you can see John Woo's Asian influence there. Also the scene where Hunt tries to destroy all the remaining copies of the virus was well shot with it playing similarly to the first film with no music in the background with complete silence with Ambrose walking towards Hunt giving suspense and tension to the scene.

But there are things that I didn't like. The villain wasn't as effective, although Dougray Scott does a decent performance, he comes off as a bit cartoonish and times and isn't a threat to Hunt at all. I felt that the mask unveils were really overused and a bit cliched. I know that its a staple of the series but when the first film done it, it was used to great effect especially at the third act of the film. But in the this film they just overuse it to many times and it undermines it shock value. Also I felt the whole imagery with Hunt and the white bird in the films third act to be stupid and over the top.

I would give Mission: Impossible 2 a 5/10: A generic action movie with a lack of plot,with a cartoonish, non threating villain and some over the top herioc imagery with Ethan Hunt.