Mission Impossible 2 - Movie Review

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2020)

I am currently watching through all of the Mission Impossible films, and two and three were the only ones I hadn't seen before. I had heard that Mission Impossible 2 was bad, but three was a definite improvement. I have yet to watch the sequel, but I have to say that I agree with the general consensus on this film.
It's a shame because most of the first act was actually quite good, and I was starting to feel like this might be an underrated film. Then, as it was transitioning to the second act, it lost all of its momentum. To be quite honest, it became boring and a slog to get through.
Tom Cruise was great, and I actually think his performance in this film was even better than the first. The relationship he shared on-screen with Thandie Newton, who people know of nowadays as Maeve Millay from Westworld, was sweet and I enjoyed the dynamic between them.
The breaking and entering element about half way through the film was executed very well and it was a tense few minutes, but that was definitely the last good part of the film. The back half was quite poor, and this made for a film which was a drastic step down from the greatness of the first Mission Impossible film.
I didn't find the story to be all that engaging as it progressed, with a weak script and an overuse of sexualising Newton's character to get what they needed from the villain.
I'll be watching the third film in this franchise soon, and I am still looking forward to it. Even without seeing that film yet, Mission Impossible still has a terrific first, fourth, fifth, and sixth film, making this one of my favourite franchises of all time, even if Mission Impossible 2 is the weak link.
SCORE: 47%