Horrible, horrible, horrible...

Rating: 3/10 (30 March 2002)

Ugh, this movie was absolutely reprehensible! This movie is basically nothing more than a demo of action and stunt scenes. The plot is ridiculous, and Tom Cruise's acting is enough to make you want to hurl yourself from a speeding motorcycle over a cliff, shooting pistols in both hands, while explosions are going off all around you and doves fly around in slow motion.

If you like looking at Tom Cruise's handsome face and body, then this movie is for you. You get to see Tom Cruise run around, do flips, shoot guns, climb mountains, ride motorcycles, take out whole armies of bad guys, and most importantly: ***smile and look handsome***. I mean, even the people who wrote the movie acknowledge this fact!! Here is a line that the villain spoke in the movie:
Sean Ambrose: "You know, the hardest part about playing you is grinning like an idiot every fifteen bloody minutes."
Exactly! The writers think its idiotic too!
And don't get me started on this whole putting on a mask that lets you look exactly like someone else bit(which the above line is referring to). First of all, its impossible. Second of all, it is a HORRIBLE COP-OUT. You actually lose the TRUST of the audience in the plot. All of sudden, ANYBODY could be a wearing a mask and a voicechip, so you are uncertain of who's who and whats what! Any minute, you are expecting the henchman to rip off his mask to reveal he's Tom Cruise, and Tom Cruise to rip off his mask to reveal that he's Thandie Newton and Thandie Newton to rip off her mask to reveal she's TV's Jay Leno. HORRIBLE.
I feel bad for John Woo. I have a feeling that Woo had very little control whatsoever in the direction of this film and was probably pushed around by Tom Cruise and the producers to make it in THEIR vision. What Woo needs to do is go back to his roots and film a movie in Hong Kong or China where he has ultimate control like Ang Lee did with Crouching Tiger. This is definitely nowhere near his previous efforts in HK, nor even Broken Arrow. Watch "Hard Boiled", "Killer" or "Bullet in the Head" and witness the true abilities of John Woo. M:I-2 shouldn't be counted.