misconceived sequel

Rating: 5/10 (21 March 2001)

The cool thing about Mission Impossible II is that it's a John Woo movie. The dumb thing about it is that it's *just another* John Woo movie. The first MI movie was great because of a complex plot, combined with great action scenes. This movie is nothing but action scenes. Change the setting and the actors, and half the scenes in this movie could be substituted with ones from Face/Off (and vice versa) and you'd never be able to tell the difference.
Fans of John Woo will find a lot to like here. It's got all his trademarks -- slow motion shots of people walking in the wind, fight scenes where everyone spins around a lot, and so forth. For that matter, fans of action movies in general will like it too. But if you like this movie, it's not *because* you liked the first one. If you watch it, watch it for brainless action. If you go in expecting a engaging or challenging plot, get ready to be as disappointed as I was.