Overblown, Overlong and Tediously Predictable!

Rating: 5/10 (15 February 2002)

A lethal virus called 'chimera' could potentially fall into the wrong hands, so Ethan Hunt must accomplish another Mission:Impossible to prevent this. But this time he's against his toughest enemy - an evil alter-ego who... Oh, who gives a damn! It's already become predictably cliched and I haven't even mentioned the love triangle OR that Hunt is acting to avenge the murder of a mentor OR the repeated face changes which were disarming in Face Off and are anally convenient here...
Look, there's no doubting Woo's credentials (and he was the only reason I rented this movie!) and the action sequences are impecably executed and frequently exciting. Unfortunately however, they go on for far too long - just like the movie as a whole. A prime example of this is the big fight at the end. Now it may feature some stunning choreography but there really is such a dictum as 'too much of a good thing' and by the end (in fact, considerably before that) you really don't care who wins as long as somebody does and quickly. And I won't even mention the farcical nature of the hero being hit flush in the face with a jagged rock and not bleeding as a result! Oops - I just did...
For those M:I2 fans who would choose to delve into the defence that I 'don't understand Woo or his ballet of violence' - get real! Woo's Hong Kong films were neither as pretentious as this and nowhere near the length. They were taut, economical expressions of a specific cinematic discipline (choreographed screen violence/action) and they advanced that discipline appreciably. The key word here though is economic. When the money was tight in the old days - a little action had to say a hell of a lot: And it spoke volumes. In M:I2 however the reverse philosophy applies and consequently the action scenes say far too much - very little of which is worth listening to.
Finally - the narrative and dialogue of this film are frequently trite and superficial: And by that I mean the love story! As unbelievable as 'Face Off' was, it was clear from the outset that it was all Woo's movie (Cruise's influence here is unfortunately heavy handed) and in Cage, Travolta and Allen he had performers of a far greater calibre than he has here; and consequently they could manipulate even the most ludicrous dialogue or plot developments and make them slightly more palatable: something beyond the key players here. Which is particularly unfortunate considering Dougray Scott's potential gravitas wasted in a cliche riddled, one dimensional monster. I mean, even Jean Claude van Damme doesn't pretend he's in Hamlet!
In short: There's little here you haven't seen before and most of the stuff that's new frequently teeters on the edge of irritation. Woo is NOT Ang Lee and he should steer well clear of romantic drama. Even if he's being bankrolled by an over-reaching star who's clearly unaware of the law of diminishing returns. And I mean art - not bank balance! Because sometimes I like to think that that's the point!