Tom and his Lovely, Lustrous Locks

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2000)

Hey, like anyone else, I knew what I was getting into when I got tickets for this video game of a movie (and it's $9.50 in NY, so you gotta be a devoted moviegoer here) ... although I was certainly entertained, still, I must say that I was not entirely capivated. Tom tosses his hair back with the frequency of a drunk sorority girl. The rubber mask routine was entirely predictable after the first time. The slo-mo action got a little tired after a while, and Thandie Newton's character, which started out promisingly spunky, degenerated into a boring doe-eyed martyr. The plot is minimal, and even my generous willingness to disbelieve was challenged frequently by the outrageous violations of physical law. M:I2 owes quite a bit to the overblown Matrix school of camerawork (I loved 'The Matrix' but fear we are in for years of mediocre imitations).
Still, it's a good matinee flick even at these inflated prices; the special effects are good, there are lots big exciting explosions and loud crashing noises, and Tom Cruise has grown into his face at long last. Plus, his hair looks damn good.
As long as you aren't expecting anything profound, it's a decent Saturday afternoon popcorn-cruncher of a flick. [And if you're expecting something profound, you are definitely in the wrong theater line.]