Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Directed by: John Woo | 118 minutes | action, thriller, adventure | Actors: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell, Matthew Wilkinson, Kim Fleming, Christian Manon, Antonio Vargas

With the death of former team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) in the first part, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is now the only person to take on new missions. This gives Cruise all the space to perform impossible actions practically on his own, only slightly assisted by three team members. When there are no complicated stunts to perform, the four really work as a team. Fortunately, because without that collaboration there can no longer be a tribute to the eponymous series where no one really works alone.

Tom Cruise is like a Jackie Chan by performing all (or at least most) of his stunts himself. Director John Woo has been asked for the second part to portray this action as cool as possible. Here and there there are some apparently unnecessary actions (why does Cruise drive on the front wheel of his motorcycle past a car that is already about to roll over?) to give that coolness extra power, which is actually disturbing . The action is already so over-the-top that even James Bond would thank it. In addition, there is a scene that looks suspiciously like a well-known scene from another action movie. If it were a random movie, that would limit the damage, but that other movie happens to be the first part of ‘Mission: Impossible’ itself.

Between all the actions (and there are many, which is of course good for an action movie) the team members and bad guys get the chance to show their acting talent. This is not a disturbing element, especially since they all go well. Main villain Dougray Scott, in particular, does well as a lost IMF agent who, partly due to the betrayal of his old flame, manages to convincingly convey the hatred towards Ethan Hunt.

Who can’t forgive Cruise and Scott for falling for the beauty of Thandie Newton, who tells complete anecdotes with light movements of eyebrows and corners of the mouth? When she actually speaks, however, her acting talent is of slightly lesser quality. On the other hand, she knows how to hold her own in the few actions in which she is involved. Ving Rhames is back to give the film light-hearted comedic elements that the film unfortunately lacks. This time he is mainly concerned about his expensive clothes, which he apparently was able to provide with his IMF salary. By the way, the same clothes almost killed him. With each installment, Cruise wants to ask a different action director to capture his reckless stunts on film. John Woo takes over from Brian De Palma and puts down a spectacular and well-filled action film with here and there, unfortunately, slightly exaggerated actions and too frequent slow motion shots. And don’t forget the eternal white pigeons that are his trademark. ‘Mission: Impossible II’ is mainly a fun movie for those who think James Bond is a wimp.