Hollywood; May you rot in hell

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2000)

That was the phrase I bellowed at the top of my lungs as I exited the theatre. That can be the only reason this movie turned out like it did. Ever since I heard a year or so ago that there was a MI2 being shot and John "The Master" Woo was at the helm, I've been licking my chops waiting for the second coming. Then I heard it was PG-13. Oh, no; spider sense tingling. That's OK, I can deal with that because the trailer looked awesome. Tom's doing his own stunts with hints of Capoiera. My excitement steadily grew. Then again, most crappy movies have great trailers.
The day finally came when I was able to be "WOOED" once more by the master of disaster. My girl and I showed up 40 min early because I didn't want to fight for the last seat in the front, ten inches away from the screen. The lights went down on a sold out crowd and I waited intensely from the magic to begin. The first 30 min of the film had me thoroughly enthralled. I like rock climbing so the opening sequence was amazing. Was that really Tom Cruise hundreds of feet high climbing without a safety line my girl asked. Looked real to me.
Then all of a sudden something went terribly wrong. The film got BORING. I love character developement, plot, drawn out conclusions, the works. But, only if they work. The chemistry was not there between Tom and Thandie, which I might add is very hot. A far cry from "Beloved". Tom seemed as if he was bored also just going through the BAD dialogue.
Mission Impossible is about teamwork not how good Tom looks in cool duds. This movie should have been called something else because it had absolutely nothing to do with MI at all. Where the hell was the espionage. That was the essential ingredient to the TV series and it was totally lacking. I hate when these Hollywood hacks think they can re-write history and totally destroy everything that was good about the show in the first place.
John Woo making a PG-13 movie should have been a dead give-away that I was in for a disappointment. You can not edit his carnage to get a PG-13. You will undoubtly piss off the LEGIONS of WOO fans as this message board has indicated. Hollywood should be good for one thing, providing talent with financing, that's it. Keep your ideas to yourself. I am a filmmaker whose first release "The American Dream" will be released Fall 2001 and I can't tell you the ridiculous scenarios producers have told me to add to my film. It's a sad situation. Hollywood is slowly sucking the life out of John Woo. He hasn't made an American film as good any of his HK stuff. Face/Off was about the closest he has come. And that couldn't match "The Killer", "Bullet in the Head", "Hard-Boiled".
Ving Rhames and Anthony Hopkins should really have done something else with their free time. These guys are great actors who deserve better than to be put in the background with BS dialogue.
Here's a hint Hollywood. The next John Woo flick better not have PG-13 rating. His films are NOT for children by any means. Remember "The Matrix" made over 400 million worldwide and counting and it cost about half of what MI2 cost. And as far as MI3 goes, the plot is not supposed to be on a 3rd grade level. So many people complained that MI1 was too complicated. THAT'S THE POINT. The plot is suppossed to grab you, confuse you and keep you enthralled, waiting to find out how's it all going to end.
Just a thought.