a real stinker

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 2002)

Amazing that such a great film could be followed by one of the worst movies ever made. Whereas the first MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE was a suspenseful thriller with a sharply-written story, this sequel is just nothing but two hours of Tom Cruise. There's no sharp storyline, no well-executed sequences, no interesting characters, and worst of all, no team work. Cruise pretty much just does everything himself this time around, leaving co-star Ving Rhames in the background. Dougray Scott is a weak villain, Anthony Hopkins is wasted, and Thandie Newton is a disaster, one of the worst actresses I've ever seen. It's amazing John Woo could turn out such a terrible film. Some say BROKEN ARROW was bad, but this is Woo's absolute worst American movie thus far, but then again, you can't really blame the director. I would be tempted to blame the writer instead, but Cruise is probably the one to blame. Skip this movie and stick with the first, but hope the inevitable M:I3 is at least half as good as the first.