Good Tom Cruise flick, bad Mission: Impossible movie

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2000)

I loved the original Mission: Impossible TV show, and was somewhat impressed by the first movie, but this movie goes too far: it takes all of the elements of M:I the show and makes them secondary to Tom Cruise's performance.
Take The Matrix's karate/gunfight scenes, James Bond's gadgets, and mix them with a dash of the original M:I movie, and you have the formula for M:I2. The only problem is, is also manages to carry over some of the worst parts of all of those movies: an overacting male lead who wears black and spouts cliches, a tag-along woman to love and leave, and a convoluted plot that is as difficult to watch as it is to explain.
Anthony Hopkins reminds me more of "M" from James Bond then of Jim Phelps. Instead of giving orders, he seems to be making suggestions... Ving Rhames does a lot of sitting, and the new Australian agent doesn't seem to make that much of an impact besides a little comic relief now and then.
All in all, you may like this movie if you're a fan of Tom Cruise or want to see a *decent* action movie, but if you're looking for the trademark Mission: Impossible "undetectable spies" and "intricate plan" elements, you're better off staying home and catching reruns of the original series.