- Title: Mission: Impossible II
- IMDb: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the first sequel to 1996’s Mission: Impossible. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt on a new mission to stop a spy who has gone bad (Dougray Scott) from getting his hands on a genetically-enhanced bio-weapon and loosing it on the world. Ving Rhames also returns to reprise his role as Luther with the rest of the small team being filled out by the forgettable John Polson and the memorable Thandie Newton as a thief, and former lover of the baddie, who Ethan recruits for the job.
It certainly isn’t the franchise’s best, but it many ways it’s comparable to The Final Reckoning with a messy script but some stand-out sequences (including the break-in to Biocyte, the fight in the company’s storage facility, the motorcycle chase, and the first meeting of Ethan and Nyah). We also get Richard Roxburgh as our villain’s heavy and Anthony Hopkins, in his only appearance giving Hunt his assignment (if he chooses to accept it).
Newton screams movie star here and is, by far, the film’s best addition to the franchise (even if it is her only appearance). Cruise ramps up Ethan taking chances which are summed up quite well in Scott’s best scene explaining to his henchmen how Ethan will break in to destroy the virus. Director John Woo‘s fingerprints are all over the film including, perhaps most notably, the shots of the doves. While it’s a bit too much Woo, the director does push pace, action, and stylized stunts which will become staples of the series moving forward. If Woo had dialed down to even an 8, the film would likely have faired better with both fans and critics.
Watch the trailer
