Average in all respects

Rating: 5/10 (11 January 2004)

WARNING: May Contain Spoilers
John Woo excels at pushing the envelope of both excitement and hyperbole in action films, but he doesn't handle emotion very well. Although certain scenes in "Mission Impossible II" don't fail to dazzle the explosion craving psyche, the entire movie has a hopelessly contrived foundation. The characters are cliches, the plot recycled, and the dialogue is hammy as it comes. A revelry of stuntwork, explosions and chases, but nothing more.
Tom Cruise gives his good looks, but not much else to the role of Ethan Hunt. Whereas the original Mission Impossible contained intelligence and mystery, Cruise is forced to work within the slap-bang action hero mold. Dougray Scott is the typical insidious ex-secret agent turned renegade. His overpunctuation of his lines is grievously apparent, and his one dimensional character practically telegraphs his direction and fate. Thandie Newton, although extremely beautiful, is reduced to the "hold me, hero" love interest role for Tom Cruise. Her character starts out as a highly capable and interesting professional thief, but degrades very quickly. I don't even know why Anthony Hopkins was in this movie, but his role was tiny enough that it doesn't need to be discussed.
The plot is blatantly recycled. A deadly virus is created and bad guys steal it, prompting a secret agent to be sent in order to get it back. The scenes proceed in a stop/go fashion to the extreme, and hardly any tension is produced at all. The chase scenes, though visually pleasing are predictable and rather over-the-top. I'm normally not such a cynic when it comes to action movies, but couldn't any idiot in his right mind have hit Cruise with at least one bullet? The kill ratio must have been about 80-0.
On the positive side, the locations were actually quite excellent. The opening scene with Tom Cruise in the Moab Desert, dangling from a cliff face hundreds of feet high was very striking. Also, the Spanish flamenco and candle-lit procession scenes exhibited very impressive lighting techniques. Woo's action sequences, though hideously hyperbolic at times, still display a degree of art. In interviews, Woo has said that he retains some romantic visions in his films, such as how the motorcycle duel between Cruise and Scott mimicked a jousting competition between medieval knights. I'm not about to challenge his contention, but he certainly has done better in his other films.
In sum, this movie isn't bad, but it's certainly not good. Its simple plot, mega star actor, and flashy effects were enough to make it a blockbuster in 2000, but certainly not enough to make it memorable. If you're an action fan, you could give it a rent, but there are many other fine action films which are more deserving of your view.