Mission: Impossible II *** (2000, Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton) – Classic Movie Review 1290

Director John Woo’s costly (£125million) 2000 sequel to the smash-hit 1996 original sees Tom Cruise return as IMF secret agent Ethan Hunt, who delivers more flashy, scrappy high-octane action in this second brain-in-neutral, edge-of-seat blockbuster.

This time Hunt is embroiled in a senseless plot about a race across Australia and Spain to stop a criminal mastermind (Dougray Scott) completing his own destructive mission to unleash a deadly virus. Director Woo’s relentless action scenes are all it’s got to offer, since the cut-to-formula story could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

Thandie Newton has little to do except sit around and look pretty as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, while Cruise mounts his motorbike for the exciting boys’ own action. Unfortunately Scott isn’t very convincing as an all-purpose, caricature villain called Sean Ambrose. Woo directs without wit, but he makes Cruise and the action look great. Anthony Hopkins appears un-credited as Mission Commander Swanbeck.

Scott was all set to play Wolverine in X-Men but shooting on this over-ran and he had to be replaced by Hugh Jackman, an unlucky chance for Scott.

Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell, Matt Wilkinson, Nicholas Bell and Kee Chan co-star. By 2015, Cruise and Rhames are the only ones in all five M:I movies.

Robert Towne’s screenplay is based on a story by Ronald D Moore and Brannon Braga and remotely based on the popular 60s TV show (1966-72), devised by Bruce Geller.

And Mission: Impossible III duly followed in 2006, with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is out on 31 July 2015.

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(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1290

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