Serves it purpose.

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2010)

Let me start by saying I enjoyed this movie. As my summary suggests, it serves it purpose as being a mindless summer action movie for people to enjoy. Therefore I watched this in the mindset of wanting to be entertained. Not educated.
And y'now what? I was thoroughly entertained.
First of all, the plot is Cliché no.4, a virus is created and has to be stopped. So nothing original so far. It does provide a basic premise that is easy for many cinemas goers can understand. It depends on your point of view whether this is a wise move or not, but as I've mentioned, people just want action from a movie such as this.
The characters serve their purpose but add little depth to their motives or actions. They just seem to do things. We are given some back story into some of the characters but it is not conveyed very effectively. For example, Thandie Newton's character is supposedly a thief with no conscience. This is "effectively" portrayed by her driving recklessly and generally pouting. But never does she try and gain advantage of her situation (like a thief would). Why not pocket a bit of that cash for yourself? The camera work and special effects are Woo trademarks in this movie. Especially in regard to the slow motion shots with unnecessary amounts of emotion thrown over like sprinkles.
Overall, I would say this movie was always destined to receive the reviews it did. With similar regard to it's box office totals. It was a summer movie action movie staring Tom Cruise which was a sequel of a much loved 1996 spy movie. What could you expect? This movie was never going to undercut The Godfather or Citizen Kane, but it was supposed to make a lot of money. And that it did, and probably entertained a lot of people along the way. It certainly started the 2000's of to a good start in terms of action.
So what the hell. Stick your mind in neutral for an hour and a half and enjoy Mission Impossible 2.