Genres

Visitors Review

karateillkickyourass 2012-05-16 10:43:35

What a disappointment!

I saw Mission Impossible 2 on opening night. After seeing the most amazingtrailer, I was ready for a movie to match it. Yeah, right! Everyone talksabout how bad and confusing the first one was... well think again. MissionImpossible 2 makes the first one look like an amazing movie. You can'tfollow the second film whatsoever. Nothing made sense. No chemistrybetween Cruise and the girl. The trademark John Woo shots were so John Woothat everyone in the theater was laughing. I'd skip this film. Wait foriton video if anything. It doesn't even belong up on the bigscreen.

Schlockmeister 2012-05-15 19:31:36

Typical Immature Rubbish

This movie was a waste of two hours of my life that I will never getback.I get so tired of seeing such self-consciously stylized movies like this.Slow motion action, light plot, no character you actually care about orplace any credibility on. But it sure had pretty explosions.I like mindless movies on occasion but not one that pretends it is smart butcomes off as actually pretty ignorant.It assumes that if you just keep the short attention span audience happywith occasional scenes of slowmotion "stylized" (yeah whatever....)violence they will forget that they are being scammed on plot orcharacter.I didn't forget.There are a lot better ways to waste two hours than by watching thistripe.

dikpuss 2012-05-06 19:33:15

Mission Impossible: Look Again

When I first saw this, I felt that the original "Mission: Impossible" filmhad been outdone. John Woo is a proven action director and his work was onglorious display here. I like Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames and Anthony Hopkins(in an unbilled cameo), and Thandie Newton was quite beautiful. So whatwent wrong? While I was blown away the first time I saw "MI2," It got worsewith repeated viewings and John Woo's famous slow motion got annoying (nooffense to the great director himself, he's done better), a completecontrast to the original movie that actually got better with repeatedviewings. This is by no means a bad movie but if you decide to rent thevideo, wait extremely long periods before watching it again. Just a way toprevent a decent movie from becoming boring.

obwan 2012-05-06 02:12:04

El Lame-o

This movie was weak. The motorcycle sequence was good but mostlyeverythingelse had me rolling my eyes. The chemistry between Tom Cruise and the girlwas contrived. The heart warming music that we hear when we see her made megag. Could anyone survive the length of the fist fight in this movie??? Idon't think so.. I agree with the other comments, the trailers would haveone believe this was an action packed, well put together package..well itwasn't.

Jerry Lance MIller 2012-04-29 22:51:36

The Best Action Movie in a long long time

Words can't describe how great this movie is. It's got a brain with itunlike most action flicks out there. The plot is good and a superblypaced.This is the first movie John Woo's ever made that I've liked. The actiondoesn't get in the way of the plot and helps move it along. And it's greatto see Cruise back in familiar territory. After so long away from thegenrehe proves he can still kick ass with the best of them. As a huge fan oftheoriginal M:I movie I was kinda' disappointed when I found ot that Woowouldbe directing but I'm glad to say that he put story first and great actionscenes that are breathtaking are still preserved. This movie in every waysurpasses the original. GO SEE IT NOW!!!!

johnnykey 2012-04-29 14:13:38

Mission Accomplished, Too!

Worth every penny and then some.I was incredibly impressed with relative newcomer Thandie Newton. A verygood performance in what might be her breakout picture.Also, although I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise, I have enjoyed both ofhisMI performances. This one perhaps more than the first, solely due to theobvious influence of director John Woo. In the first movie, Ethan Huntwasplayed as more intellectual and planning. This movie, Ethan Hunt shows apurely physical side, displaying a fighting style somewhat reminiscent ofthe late Brandon Lee.Directed by action master John Woo, this movie is naturally studded witheye-popping stunts. From the free-form mountain climbing in the openingcredits to the astonishing motorcycle acrobatics in the climatic chasescenes, one hardly has a moment to draw a decent breath, much less getmorepopcorn. A real roller coaster of a movie that, somehow, still manages agood plot line and oddly believable characters.The only possible complaint I could muster was an overuse of slow motionandstop-time photography ... but this is a very slim complaint atbest.Spend the money to see this one first run, then go back when it hits thedollar theaters in a few months and enjoy it again.

diddy1tym 2012-04-29 09:08:26

wow!

Tom Cruise can do a bit more on the acting part, but thanks to John Woo,this film was incredible. The action scenes were just breathtaking. Wow!It's unbelievable how many times I said that during themovie.Nyah was HOT too. Man, guys, you gotta go see this movie for the girl, ifyou can't find enough reasons to go see it already.

2012-04-28 14:17:40

Style over everything

Script = Recyled nonsense, Style = John Woo at his best, Tom Cruise = TomCruise. Brainless action with no storyline, but the camera shots, colors,and cinematography is top notch. The awful script brings it down to 6thgrade level though. Too bad.

dpm3k 2012-04-28 02:19:39

Warning: Absence of Plot Elements....

Fifteen minutes into this movie I still thought this was going to be agreatcontender in the Summer Blockbuster genre. It was even starting to viefora slot in my head for the Spy/Gadget genre (The Saint kinda sucked, andBrosnan's no Connery.) - all the requisite elements were there, and wellexecuted at that (WARNING PLOT ELEMENTS): Some grand-finale caliberactionin the opening heist scene; the really neat-o cyber glasses after thereallyneat-o free climbing scene; The requisite Bond-esque cat-burglar scene,followed by requisite Bond-esque roadster-in-the-mountains chase scene,followed by the requisite Bond-esque bedding of the beautiful heroine (orvillain?? Ooh the suspense.the possibilities.). Granted there was thatsomewhat cornball scene with the rubber tear-away mask, though thevoice-chip was a clever twist. But it was early and over real quick likeaband-aid so no harm done, right?Those of you who have seen the movie can see where I am going withthis..By two thirds thru the movie I no longer care how cool the gadgets wereimplied to be in the trailer, or how hard it must be to act with hair inyour eyes, or how he can possibly clutch-brake with one hand whileshootingat a moving target LEFTHANDED or how many more lines Ving Rhames canfumblethru without invoking a Mushmouth reference or the other guy a YahooSeriousreference, or how they hide the wires in those ceaseless slo-mo somersaultkarate-chop kicks, (And what's the connection between that andlocation-shooting in Australia (Matrix reference)? Is it a gravitything?),or how suddenly a Triumph Speed Triple is wearing dirt tires at the endofa street chase, or how many times one can rip off Sam Peckinpah andBattleship Potemkin/The Untouchables in one scene..Oh no, I no longer care about any of those things, because I am kneelingonthe sticky floor praying for them to PLEASE STOP WITH THE RUBBER MASKSCHTICK. I mean JESUS HERSCHEL CHRIST it was STUPID when they did it onthe beer commercials with Rodney Dangerfield and Bob Ueker and it's STUPIDNOW. And just when you think its over, just when you finish rationalizingthe last three rubber mask scenes ("well I GUESS they could've spent 4hoursin make-up just before the heist/interrogation/chance meeting in thealley."), they throw inTWO MORE RUBBER MASK SCENES RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ACTION SEQUENCE!!!!!Wait - its not Tom Cruise at all - its really the bad guy! BUT WAIT it'sreally the Coyote - BUT WAIT ITS REALLY THE SHEEPDOG ---- NO ITS ACTUALLYAFRIGGIN HORSE. AAARRGH!!!!(If your browser is unable to support screamingfont, please click here to down load the screaming-enabledplug-in)But far be it from me to give away the surprise ending. Surprise. ThereISNO SURPRISE ENDING!!!!! (WARNING: ABSENCE OF PLOT ELEMENTS) No triple oreven double agents, no flashbacks, no characters who turned out to be deadbut didn't know it, no nothing. Imagine the most predictable schlockhollywood crowdpleaser ending and you'll be right. This story line isaboutas flat as a medieval globe. I guess the first Mission: Impossible(M:I1??)just left too many people scratching their heads.

Chris Hays 2012-04-27 11:16:19

At least I got to see it for free!

I'm probably one of the few people out there that couldn't stand the firstMI. I thought the plot was week and the acting was horrible, Cruise was somuch better in the 80's, maybe he should have stayed there. MI-2 on theother hand was probably one of the worst movies that I have seen in a longtime (at least Barb Wire had more cleavage). The last 20 minutes or so hadme expecting to see pigs flying around the auditorium. I understand thatthere is supposed to be some disbelief on the part of the movie patron, butgive me a break. This movie made people disbelieve gravity, physics andreality in order to entertain slightly. I'm glad that I didn't waste my $7or whatever it is, to see it.

Jason M. Rothman 2012-04-26 18:06:21

A heart racing thrill-ride, John Woo at his best

In "Mission:Impossible -- 2" Tom Cruise's mission is clear -- make a sequelthat stands out. And it's Mission:Accomplished, thanks to theactor/producer's hiring of Hong Kong Action Master John Woo as the film'sdirector.On the surface, the addition of Woo means Cruise's IMF Agent Ethan Hunt nowfires two guns at once inside of one. It also means that Tom Cruise,Hollywood Mega Star Pretty Boy instantly becomes Tom Cruise, Kung FuBadass.But there's more to Woo's style than just slo-mo angles of double-fistedgunplay and ludicrously acrobatic karate moves. The director brings anover-the-top, operatic melodrama to the standard espionage story thatjustifies the preposterously far-fetched action. Woo's accent marks areall over the film -- from a scene very early on showing one character'ssplit-second vision of apocalyptic doom, to a close-up of a fire reflectingin the villain's tormented eyes, and to -- perhaps most memorably -- aubiquitous John Woo white dove preceding one of Cruise's most dramaticentrances. The movie is much closer to Woo's classic films than to anythingon the old '60s TV show.The film's last 45 minutes are a non-stop, heart-racing ride. The sequenceconcludes with another standard John Woo feature -- two friends, turnedmortal enemies, in a prolonged mano-a-mano slugfest death match in a remotearea, in this case a rocky cliff above the ocean. It doesn't get moredramatic than that, and movies don't get more thrilling than"Mission:Impossible -- 2".

tigers1fan 2012-04-26 10:23:11

Mission:Impossible, make this into a good film

Nothing that has not been done over 25 times, way too predictable to beanygood. I've seen this film before when it was called "Face-Off". How oftencan slow motion and a stand-off between good and evil can we take beforeeverything gets old. As for the plot, very, very weak

Damien Simoens 2012-04-22 19:23:10

Really poor

Incredible mission but too incredible to be interesting. Special effectsarefunny but other films as Matrix are far better at this point of view. Iprefer to forget this film. If you have seen the first one, you willprobably ask yourself why you have lost your time with this secondone.

pete36 2012-04-22 03:33:23

Most inferior sequel ever

The first MI was aimed at an audience already out of high school and withanIQ at least over 50. It was real brain candy and stylishly directed byDePalma.MI2 has none of it all. It's just one big ego-trip for Tom Cruise. Heisthe über-James Bond, doing all this amazing stuff, killing a lot ofpeoplein the process and of course getting the girl in the end.This movie combines the worst recent Hollywood action movies have tooffer: totally unbelievable action scenes, an almost complete lack of plot,and a hero escaping all this mayhem with barely a scratch.One of the most ridiculous scenes features Cruise on a motorcycle beingchased by an armada of cars full of guys shooting at him with machineguns.Imagine this in real life, only one bullet has to hit either him or thecycle and its quits.And what about the mask changing thing again, the lame romance, AnthonyHopkins (?) and so on.Halfway the movie I just started rooting for the bad guys.I never liked much John Woo's movies. I have not seen any of his earlierHong-Kong made films but I am sure it has a high bodycount. I evendidn'tenjoy the much hyped Face-off, which I'll admit had a clever premise, butfinally resulting in the same ridiculous shoot-outs.I'll give it a 3 (though it deserves a 1) , for the camerawork and thestuntdoubles.

ClockworkDroogie 2012-04-15 07:26:16

From the hack writer, Ronald D Moore....

What else would you expect from the hack, Ronald D Moore, who total screwed up the Battlestar Galatica revival on SciFi Channel, by not giving the fans the faithful continuation they asked for and, instead, "re-imagining" it? Just like the new Battlestar Galactica, R D Moore uses cheap, plot devices like mask unveilings, to tie every plot twist, no matter how sloppy and insulting to the viewer it is. ...and how many friggin' slo-mo shots can a person take before one starts to doze off in the theatre? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't MISSION IMPOSSIBLE supposed to be about a T-E-A-M of FOUR EQUALLY skilled professionals, who work TOGETHER to achieve a common goal??? That's what I remember from watching the original and superior 70s tv show... not "The Tom Cruise and these other three schmucks show." [...rolls eyes...] If Hollywood isn't going to remain loyal to the source material, why even bother making the movie? It's the reason why I haven't paid to plop my butt in a theatre seat in a full year. Screw you Hollywood! You can keep your crappy joke-of-a-movie, DUKES OF HAZZARD, too!

morales123 2012-04-14 21:43:44

Great action, but the plot was weak.

There's a lot of action in this movie. Then again, what do you expect fromaJohn Woo film? The man is the master of action films (Face/Off, TheKiller,Hard Boiled). You can tell that Woo, Tom Cruise and the stuntmen workedhardto give the audience five great action sequences. The motorcycle scene atthe end was spectacular. Yet, all of the action scenes are linked to averypoorly executed love story and another killer virus plot.Cruise's Ethan Hunt falls in love with team member/thief Nyah (ThandieNewton), but not one person in the theater could believe that these twopeople had fallen madly in love with each other after just meeting 24hoursago. This is crucial because the movie revolves around their relationship.The plot about the killer virus is simple, but it would have worked if thelove story was stronger. Woo needed to make the love story more believableand he failed. Hey, if we were all able to look across the room at someoneand fall madly in love, then maybe we could believe this so-called "lovestory."Thandie Newton's performance was horrible; she looked dazed and confusedatthe camera half the time and I wasn't sold that she was this tough,international thief either. Dougray Scott was a formidable and evilvillain.He gave a very good performance. Having Anthony Hopkins in the movie,thoughhe is a great actor, was a waste of time and money. Don't go to see thismovie just to see him. Actor Czerny Henry, who played IMF boss EugeneKittridge in the first film, should have returned to play Hopkins' partandperhaps the filmmakers could have saved some money and hired a better leadactress.The movie had the Woo effect: a slow-paced, moody feeling broken byfast-paced action sequences and special effects. Cruise's portrayal ofEthan Hunt was different in this sequel than the original. In the firstfilm, Hunt was confident in his abilities but was scared of what waslurkingbehind the corner. In this film, Woo and Cruise make Hunt a force to bereckoned with and feared. So, if you're a fan of Woo's action films andyouwant to see Cruise act like Chow-Yun Fat, then go see this movie. But, ifyou are expecting anything else, like a great love story and athought-provoking plot, then save your money and wait until Mission:Impossible 2 comes out on video.

refinedsugar 2012-04-13 01:20:51

When sequels go wrong.

Very wrong. This a bad movie for so many reasons, but none more thanbecause they messed with everything, changed it all. I've never been ahuge fan of the original MI with Tom Cruise, but it was slick, it wasentertaining, it made sense from one point to another. This sequel isjust an ungodly mess. It's as if someone said 'can we take everythingthat was wrong about the original movie and amplify it tenfold'. EvenTom Cruise who I thought was a perfect fit in the original feels reallyout of place here doing weirdly angled kicks and spinning offmotorbikes adding a few more notches to my viewing misery.John Woo can make good movies, I know this, I think you know this, butthis is far from one of them. I strongly wonder if he was the right guyfor this project. I ponder this because I didn't even find the actionscenes that great and we're talking about John Woo here. Between thedoves, action scenes that seem so far removed from reality we also geta bunch of people switching faces. The amount of times they use thisconvention to further the silly string plot is truly absurd. Allwrapped in a flick that feels like nothing a Mission Impossible movieshould feel like. Of course saying all that won't stop us from seeing aMission Impossible 3 and all I can hope is they get back to the basicsand get it right this time, but the way Hollywood operates, I'm notoptimistic.

Auselan 2012-04-12 09:41:58

A unique work of art

Mission Impossible 2 was not appreciated by the critics because it was notunderstood by them. As the culmination of the action epic - where thesymmetry, usually found in poetry, is embodied by the violence - mostmoderncinema-goers were faced with something wholly new. The Westernintelligentsia, still hung up on the 1960's false division of clever femalecreativity from brute male violence, could not appreciate the profundityandhappy sanity which John Woo's action engenders.The film opens with a panoramic view of the Moab dessert in Utah, beforeslowly focusing in on the small pinprick of activity which turns out to beEthan Hunt (Cruise). As he struggles with the hot sandy surface of theperilous cliff face, one of the film's main themes is introduced: man'sstruggle to overcome fire and earth. Fire and earth being, since Biblicaltimes, symbols of desire, pain and, ultimately, procreation. Yet the themeis not gendered: sometimes it is male, sometimes female. The violence ofthe Spanish dancers, dressed in red with their viciously clicking heels andaggressively sharp – though elegant – movements, celebrate femininestrengthand sexuality. As Naya executes her robbery, the clacking of her heels onthe stairs and her sudden pose against the wall mimics the actions of theSpanish dance, thus her union with Tom Cruise on the cliff face, as theirtwo cars, pinned together, pirouette towards dusty death, unifies thecreative energy of the feminine Spanish dance with that of masculinedanger.They become lovers.Hunt is obliged by his ‘master' to give her up – to pimp her – and therebyentrap the villain. At this point, the theme of fire and earth mutates asthe pain, rather than the desire of its fecundity is explored. This isvisually conveyed by the horse image which begins to dominate –quantitatively and as well as qualitatively – over the earth image. Nayaisdescribed by the villain, Ambrose, as a possible ‘Trojan horse' – referringto the danger lurking behind her desirability – and the next scene is ofhorse-hooves churning up the race-track: a sinister mutation of therumblingcastanets and clacking heels of the flirtatious Spanish dance scene. Nayabecomes a pawn as the film delves deeper into violence, and eroticismbecomes secondary or is subsumed into the beauty of explosive maleconfrontation. Naya becomes less important while the arch enemy, Ambrose,becomes more so. There is nothing salacious about this substitution of afemale for a male combatant on the part of Hunt: a Freudian interpretation,while being a valid exercise in risky thinking, adds nothing to ourunderstanding. Instead of the tender mating ritual of the car chase, wehave the bitter sparring ritual of the motorcycle chase: the two aresimilarin that they involve danger and heightened passions.The full-frontal motorcycle confrontation is the culmination of the horseimage: it is a modern day joust, where the horses have become machines.Theanimal of the horse is civilized or contained within the sphere oftechnology, just as the film – with all its technological innovation –masters and is able to express through it's artistry otherwiseuncontrollable inexpressible forces. Like the Spanish dance and the carchase with Naya, Hunt's action scenes have a primal, yet also cosmic,elegance. When he is kicking his gun from the sand with a sharptap-dancingmanoeuvre, pirouetting on the wheel of a motorcycle, or spinning away fromgun-fire amidst exploding glass and red flames, the paradoxical creativityof violence is suggested. Explosions occur and the camera pans out toafford a view of their blast radius, dwelling upon – and thereby suggestingthe beauty of – these scenes of chemical destruction. John Woo, throughthese explosive images, reminiscent of the origin of the universe (the bigbang) is thus able to suggest one of the central paradoxes of creation: howlife and creativity began in violence.

D'MORPH 2012-04-07 22:00:51

MISSION: PATHETIC

The Cruise-man goes to Octane Cool! See him show off his 'martial artsabilities'! See him perform the most wicked stunts ever done by amateurstunt men! See the Cruise-Control Motorcycle Road Runner's Chase! See theCool Cruise-man win High Points on the Score Board! This is little more than a shoddy imitation of The Matrix or another boring,cliche-ridden movie episode of James Bond, but with a poorer story line.What story line you say? There wasn't one, actually.WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!Complete suspense of disbelief is an absolute necessity in order for one tosit through this flick without laughing aloud, or groaning at all theridiculous stunts Tom Cruise performs.The 80 m.p.h 'Shoes-On-Asphalt-Slide' is probably the best (and worst!)phony stunt I have ever seen! Next time I ride my moped I'll hop off andslide down the street alongside of it wearing my jandals while shooting apea shooter at bulls eye targets on passing lamposts.Tom fighting??? He may be able to act, but he simply can't fight. Hismartial arts looked like the way I would do martial arts. And I'm fairlyhopeless! To make this even worse (or funnier!) they show Tom's fights inslow-mo! Other memorable moments: The slow-mo 80 m.p.h chest slap and waves crashingon beach during the (anti) climatic fight (most of it also in slow-mo).Tom's flying-shoe kicks and clumsily-performed cartwheels in the sand. Tom'sshoes-sand-gun-hand manouver (all at once). His Hair. His sun glasses.Priceless!!! This whole awful flick was produced by Tom so that simply makes this a'Cruise-Mobile'. Admittedly I missed half of this 'movie' on video. Iwatched the Second Half, and found it to be ridiculous to the point ofhilarious. CONCLUSION? Watch only if you wish to learn how to become a famous actor'sstunt double.

robgallavan 2012-04-07 09:56:55

How many rubber masks can one guy own?

The first film had you thinking "who done it" right up to the end. M:I-2hadto bring in a script doctor just so the movie could fit around John Woo'sdirecting style, which is right out of the action formula chapter. Theresult: a plot line that is given away in the first 30 minutes and atypicalformula ending for an action flick. Someone needs to take away John Woo'sslow motion button.