Such potential wasted...

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 2000)

I enjoyed the first Mission: Impossible - complex, plenty of twists and turns, fun and exciting - you had to watch it at least twice to understand the entire plot - and looked forward to the second movie. While it does have it's good points - some great action scenes and a great cast - it's let down by it's predictability, clichéd 'good-guys-always-win' ending complete with good guy gets girl, bad guy dies and good guy saves the world. It didn't even feel like M:I since the mission was not that 'impossible' in the first place. It's more an action movie than part of the 'Mission: Impossible' series.
But it does have one major point in it's favour: Dougray Scott as Sean Ambrose. Intelligent, charming, charismatic, sensitive and complex, Sean unfortunately makes Ethan Hunt look insipid and weak and to a point, irritating. I was rooting for Sean the entire movie, despite the fact I knew without a doubt he would be killed. He alone makes it worth watching more than once.
Such potential wasted, could have been far better if they'd stuck closer to the original series/film and not gone for mainstream appeal of basic plot, plenty of explosions, clichéd ending and ignoring the original premise which made the series, and first movie, so popular.