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Mission Impossible 2

Mission Impossible 2

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Yeah yeah yeah
Review: Bleah, another Tom Cruise movie. It has good effects, but other than that, ho hum.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Don't take at face value
Review: I'm giving this movie 3 stars, but more on the side of two, rather than four. I found it boring & predictable. And the don't take at face value is absolutely necessary. You don't know who people are going to be, as the mask of people's faces which was touched upon in the first movie, is now severely overdone in this, and now has a little sticker across the voice box, to make the voices the same too.

Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, and along with Ving Rhames, are the only two surviving members of the previous film. Along come a whole host of other characters, including Thandie Newton, and Dougray Scott - a sterotyped Scottish character, playing the bad guy as usual.

This movie seems to steal a lot from a hyped film, which has influenced a lot of other movies - The Matrix. This film has a lot to answer to these days in the movie world, and I was disappointed to see Tom Cruise/John Woo steal certain bits to make their film better - and I'm sorry to say they failed.

There are a lot of fight scenes in this, but they're not sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat fight scenes. They're overdone, and don't really have any effect on you.

I was also disappointed by Tom Cruise in this. I much preferred his hair in the first film - the buzz cut - than his overlong, and unkempt look in this film. A year or so after this, Tom famously divorced Nicole Kidman, in favour of Penelope Cruz. I wouldn't be surprised if Nicole was jealous after seeing this film, as Tom & Thandie (Newton) have a lot of chemistry, very unusual in co-stars. The fact that she also wears lots of low cut tops with push up bras probably helped.

I loved the scenes featuring Tom & Thandie, or just Thandie alone, cos the music in the background was really nice and peaceful. The Mission Impossible score is used quite a lot, but it sounded different to the original, and is overused and overloud at some points.

Overall, I'm not disappointed I bought this film (it was on sale). And of course its a sequel, so I wasn't really expecting much. But I hope Tom Cruise doesn't think he's going to be onto a good thing if he churns out another one. We all know how the third movie always disappoints.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Sequel
Review: I am a huge Tom Cruise fan, so I'm a little biased, but I like this movie. It's nothing that will make you think too much, just Tom Cruise blowing stuff up, wearing masks and pulling off incredible martial arts moves.

A little predictable, but fun and worth owning.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mission: Impossible 2
Review: It's funny that people take action movies so seriously. Action movies are like popcorn movies and are made for just a fun movie experience. So from the beginning when you go to see an action/popcorn movie you shouldn't expect to see an in-depth storyline, 3-dimensional characters, or great acting (though this film does a bit better in that area than most). What you should expect to see is of course good action, good cinematography, cheesy one-liners, and good special fx - which this film has in spades.
So if you don't like action movies, then you won't like this one (I would've thought that was obvious, but some people have a rough time with it).
This is the most skillfully-made action movie in the past 10 years - or since Hard Boiled, though Desperado definitely gives it a run for its money - and Kill Bill has now topped MI2, but that's my opinion :P.
Good action movies are hard to come by and few people appreciate them, either because they insist that every film should be art (in its defined form) and/or that in order for a movie to be good it must succeed on every area (i.e. acting, cinematography, dialogue, etc.). I agree with these and truely enjoy well-thoughtout and artsy movies (Glengary Glenross, Taxi Driver, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Memento, Adaptation, too many to list). Every once and while though it's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't have too many levels working at once. One that's focusing on just one thing and it does that one thing very well -MI2 is that kind of movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: THIS MOVIE IS LIKE THE FAST FOOD.
Review: This movie is like the Fast food: you feel attracted to consume it, you enjoy it while it lasts, but once that you finished it, you will forget it almost immediately.

Obviously influenced by the blockbuster movie "Matrix" (1999), "Mission Impossible 2" switched from the complex style of the first movie, to a very different style plagued of explosions, summersaults and martial arts. Far less interesting than the original movie, but more dynamic and spectacular, "Mission Impossible 2" is perfect to relax a couple of hours while you enjoy your favorite fast food, but definitely it isn't an essential movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Nothing remarkable about this
Review: Save for some classy moments (probably the John Woo shots that Tom Cruise didn't butcher when he re-edited this) this movie is basically stinks to high Heaven. If Heaven would even accept such a movie.

Watch as characters rip their masks off one after the other, again and again! He's not Tom Cruise, he's the villain! He's not the villain he's Tom Cruise! He's not Tom Cruise he's Halle Barry! He's not...

Watch as a rocket launcher hits a car in the trunk, which of course sends it high up to the air, causing it to spin around in an arch, and then fly off a bridge!

Watch as Tom Cruise and the villain leap high in the air on their motorcycles, bash into each other mid-air, and then fall to the ground flat on their backs...then get up as if everything's OK!

Watch as a car crashes into a parked car, then unleashes a mushroom cloud explosion!

Watch as guys firing automatic weapons in a steady position can't hit Tom Cruise, while Tom Cruise can ride a motorcycle, turn around, fire one shot from a handgun, and kill a guy!

Watch as our heroine isn't the least affected by a disease even near death time, while other victims had been horribly scarred or deformed just before death!

Watch as people leave the movie one by one...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mindless entertainment
Review: For my box office money, Year 2000 was one of the worst ever, with a plethora of bloated, overlong, overrated flicks ("Gladiator," "Cast Away," "What Lies Beneath," "The Patriot," "Perfect Storm"). Though not by any means a great movie, "M:I-2" rises to the top of my memory almost by default. It's dumb, but at least it's fast and entertaining.

John Woo knows how to stage, direct and photograph action sequences, and it's a good thing his star, Tom Cruise, knows how to act in them and even how to perform many of his own stunts. "M:I-2" wisely conserves the wildest action for about the last 45 minutes, beginning with Cruise's daring penetration of a high-rise and ending with probably the longest fistfight sequence in history.

I didn't believe a minute of this silly, slick, superficial piece of eye candy. The good thing is, Woo and Cruise don't ask us to. They intend only to seduce us with surface level charm. They succeed, brilliantly. Here is an action movie that takes the effort to find poetry in its visuals, like the extended scene that introduces Cruise's affable spy, Ethan Hunt, to the femme fatale, Nyah, played fetchingly by the alluring Thandie Newton. It's a flirtatious dance with larceny at its core, taken to a new level by the mountaintop car chase, another dance that leads eventually to physical passion. We may not care about Ethan and Nyah, but wow, they look great together.

Much of "M:I-2" is over the top and ridiculous, and a lot of the dialogue is banal, taking us from Point A to Point B. But Woo finds all sorts of ways to make the movie interesting without dialogue. Maybe the best news of all is that this never, for a moment, feels like a sequel, thankfully because Cruise intends each entry in the franchise to feel like a brand-new, standalone film (never mind the numeral in the title). Think what Tarantino could do with this material.

"Think." Now there's a word you don't want anywhere near "M:I-2." At least this movie has the courage to live up to its own mindlessness. And I won't even gripe about the bad Anthony Hopkins performance. Are Cruise and Woo that good? Yep, they are.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Some of the best action scenes I've ever seen
Review: Mission Impossible 2 is a great action movie directed by John Woo which contains some of the greatest action shots I have ever seen. The story is relatively simple. A rogue MI agent has gotten ahold of a deadly virus, Chimera, which destroys all the body's blood cells. The Mission Impossible Force calls on agent Ethan Hunt to retrieve the virus from the agent who often worked as his double on missions. He recruits a former love interest of the rogue agent who Hunt also falls in love with along the way. While the story may seem familiar, the action scenes are truly great. From a car chase in the mountains to Hunt's entrance into the Biocyte Laboratories, to the concluding motorcycle chase and the subsequent hand to hand combat, these action scenes should not be missed. If you could say nothing else about the ability of John Woo, you'd have to say that the man knows how to construct a scene. Just like Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, Woo knows how to make his violence a work of art as bullets fly everywhere and bodies fly through the air in slow motion. There is also a believable love story between Hunt and Nyah Hall that works here, mostly because of the excellent backing by Hans Zimmer's score which sounds a lot like Gladiator.

Tom Cruise returns as MIF agent Ethan Hunt, and he does not disappoint. As you can see in the extras, Cruise did a lot of his own stunt work while also turning in a very good performance. Dougray Scott is also excellent as rogue agent, Sean Ambrose. He makes a very good bad guy and a great rival for Hunt. Thandie Newton stars as the third piece of the love triangle, master thief Nyah Hall, who joins Hunt in his efforts to retrieve the Chimera virus. Ving Rhames also returns as computer hacker extraordinare Luther Stickell. Just as in the first movie, Rhames gives another good performance as part of Hunt's team. Anthony Hopkins makes a brief appearance as the man assigned to brief Hunt about the mission. He gives one of the best lines in the whole movie. After Hunt states,"It may be difficult" Hopkins replies," Its not Mission Difficult, Mr Hunt, its Mission Impossible." The DVD contains several extras about the making of the movie with cast and crew interviews, the very funny MTV spoof of the movie with Ben Stiller, a Metallica video, theatrical trailers, commentary, and widescreen presentation. John Woo fans will love this action classic! For a movie with great action and fight scenes with a pretty good story, check out Mission Impossible 2!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Another one who tryed to copie James Bond!!
Review: All i can say about this movie is Copy-Cat.Compared to the first Mission Impossible we no longer see intresting Tactical Operations or inteligent deductions.No! To make more money they create another james bond who alone with his Pistol takes down a whole armada.
Whats Great!
- Special Effects
- Music
- Actors
Whats Cheap!
-Story
-One man army james bond style

Well rent it if your at home stuck because of a bad rainy day!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An incredible follow-up...
Review: "Mission: Impossible 2" is a truly awesome sequel that almost surpasses the original. John Woo, possibly the last great action director, helms this exciting, less cerebral sequel and the result is a beautifully done piece of work. This is surprising. A no-brainer action sequel is almost a work of art, thanks to the brilliance of Woo. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt and is now on a mission to stop a renegade IMF agent from selling a deadly virus to terrorists. The action scenes are loaded with great explosions, cool fist and gun fights as well as some seriously awesome music from Hans Zimmer. This is an action movie that redefines its genre. The Bond films really changed after this movie came out. This is an action movie that relies on scenery and execution rather than its stars. It's a constantly-exciting and riveting film with some of the best action in recent history. Woo went on to make his worst film yet, "Windtalkers," but its failure wasn't because of bad direction, but more of lack of intelligence or research. "Mission: Impossible 2" is a very good film and a must for any action fan. We can only hope "Mission: Impossible 3" will be as good.


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