Better than the first...(spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (6 September 2002)

M:I2 brings back star Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, returning to his role from the first film Cruise seems a bit more confident this time around, and the direction of John Woo might help a bit.
This time the plot involves a deadly virus that is going to be sold on th black market. Hunt and his team must hunt down the villians and the virus before it is released.
This time around M:I is more on the side of action than a thick and confusing plot. It's not a thinkers movie, it is an action movie. And while Mission Impossible had some great end sequence action, Mission Impossible 2 delivers action the whole way through, with a pleasurable ending.

I didn't enjoy M:I very much because I think they either tried to hard or didn't try enough. I found the plot to take too many twists and turns to the point that you didn't really care about the film that much anymore, not because it is confusing but because you do not care about any plot changes, and you just wanted the film to move on and break away from its slow pace. On the other hand M:I2 does the opposite. It moves fast, doesn't have any big twists and turns, and of course with John Woo directing, some very original and interesting fight sequences.
The film itself does have flaws, but you do not really care that much because you are having such a good time enjoying the film. The end has non-stop action, leading to a fist-fight/martial arts sequence on a beach that I will not ruin for you.
The acting team isn't as big in MI:1 but Anthony Hopkins makes a nice cameo as Mission Commander Swanbeck, and Ving Rhames returns as Luther Stickell. The main cast listing follows: Tom Cruise .... Ethan Hunt Dougray Scott .... Sean Ambrose Thandie Newton .... Nyah Nordoff-Hall Ving Rhames .... Luther Stickell Richard Roxburgh .... Hugh Stamp John Polson .... Billy Baird Brendan Gleeson .... John C. McCloy Rade Serbedzija .... Dr. Nekhorvich William Mapother .... Wallis Dominic Purcell .... Ulrich
I would recommend this film to you if you like John Woo films, and/or action films. It's got some great action sequences, some good cinematography ( The beginning sequence proves that) and some overall good acting (despite Cruise's big shot attitude) that makes the film a lot better than Mission Impossible 1.
3/5 stars-
JOHN ULMER