Terrible, absolutely terrible [Possible spoilers]

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2002)

I loved the first film when it came out- although it had a very complex story and required you to watch it more than once, it was sheer heart-thumping suspense. Therefore, I couldn't wait until the sequel came out- which I ended up going to see at the cinema twice in the first week it was released. I even bought the video when that came out, and last month, I bought the DVD.
After getting hold of the original on DVD in the last few days and being able to revisit it again- I can now see what a pathetic piece of something-not-nice it's sequel really is. For a start, Ethan Hunt in M:I-2 is *not* the Ethan Hunt in M:I, he's grown his hair as well as his sexual appetite and has become completely unbelievable. The token British bad guy is just as awful, Dougray Scott cannot act in this role and makes a mockery of everything that came in the previous film. The direction from John Woo is all style and certainly no substance, two cars spinning around next to each other in slow-motion? Nah, I'm not quite seeing it to be honest. The music is laughably bad- but complements the film well because of this. They've transformed the signature M:I theme (the only thing the films and the original TV series have in common, really) into a thumping guitar-fueled rock track which is suitably abysmal. And while some of the action sequences are risable, none of them as much as come close to the first film's modest array of nail-biting near misses. Nothing beats the sheer thrill of Ethan Hunt jumping from a high-speed bullet train onto the bottom of a helicopter as the M:I theme begins.
Thank God one of my favourite directors of recent times (the sublimely talented David Fincher) is close to signing up for the third instalment- I have no doubt he will pick up the series from where the first one ended. Fincher hasn't disappointed me yet, and I doubt he ever will.
Overall Score: 4/10