Diagnosis: This needs an antidote for clichés and plot holes stat!

Rating: 6/10 (16 July 2015)

Mission Impossible 2 is a bang on movie. Judging from the rating and reviews, the sequel to the first classic Mission Impossible film is not well received but who cares when you really have nothing to do just to pass time and it's not a bad thing in itself; movies are essentially to entertain us. Mission Impossible 2 is just that, a good fun action movie that is entertaining and catered to mass audience who may essentially want action on its own with less talky and less smart narrative.
The movie is directed by John Woo and it opens up with a scientist narrating the myth of Bellerophon and the Chimera from the Greek myth. In this case, chimera is referred to as the virus while Bellerophon is obviously the cure. As with many spy and action movies terrorists are trying to acquire the virus and the cure and as always it is up to Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) to stop them. Without spoiling much of the story (though it is obvious), the plot and twists were actually less than what it seems and as such it is what kept the audience interested long enough though it fell short. The first half has been interesting and tense enough but nothing compared to the first Mission Impossible movie. There are wires, jumping and split second hazards as the first movie but were not expanded and fell short. After the second half of the film it became rather tedious and too predictable action with no depth. The cinematography was for me is less than average. There were too many annoying and unnecessary slow motion action scenes like Ethan Hunt turning around to shoot a guy after barely escaping from a bunker facility. There were also some plot holes by which, if had been patched, the everything would have been solved already. In that sense, it is probably intentional just for the sake of action but if you see the plot holes, as an audience it will kind of ruin your viewing experience of the film. Of course, the movie does not want you to think but just watch passively and enjoy the killing and shooting and all the silly actions that John Woo presented. I did enjoy them enough but I cannot unthink what I saw!
In terms of acting I thought the casts were good and Thandie Newton and Tom Cruise were good together but their relationship together was not developed well enough and was forced in an instant. They did not have a strong chemistry which I felt was for the sole purpose of having an obligatory love interest. I would think that it was probably so that the movie could focus more on traditional action. One major criticism I have on one of the actor was of Dougray Scott who plays as the villain Sean Ambrose. His character was very one dimensional and unconvincing, a very typical action movie villain. There were was a brief scene where he was shown to have a rather more humane and sensitive side but that fell short too similar to the plot. Now having said this, I cannot say if Dougray Scott could be blamed or the script. More than likely it was the script's fault because watching the final product it appears to be the case. Similarly, near the end, the character of Ethan Hunt slightly suffers from one dimensional action hero where he finally unleashed the action hero archetype: unkillable and still active despite countless body traumas he has suffered and no bruises too.
Mission Impossible 2 is a good average action film and so if you have not seen the movie don't expect too much and don't think about it too much. Just try to enjoy the movie as it is and it is not as bad as many people claim it to be. The plot and narrative do suffer from the classic action film virus: predictable and silly action, one dimensional villain, death defying superhuman protagonist, obligatory chase scenes and love interest. Indeed, MI2 is afflicted with action movie cliché flu and it needs its own Bellerophon: a huge dose of better writing. Though the diagnosis is too late because many people have caught the flu and they either did not survive watching the movie and hated it, or they survived and liked it. Well I fall in the survivor's group and liked it. But let me be clear: this does not mean however that I would watch the film the second time to catch another flu. The next sequel Mission Impossible 3 clearly cured the story and treated all the symptoms.