Cruise control

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2004)

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (2000) *** Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Rade Sherbedegia, Sir Anthony Hopkins. Sequel more or less the equal of the first in the lucrative franchise with brash superspy Ethan Hunt (Cruise buffed and blunt as always) is set into high-gear to stop the nefarious former op agent Scott from unleashing a worldwide, highly lethal virus by enlisting beautiful thief (the ethereal Newton adding a little heat) and his old computer hacking crony Luther Stickell (stalwart to the bone Rhames) to put a stop to the global threat. Status quo Bond-ian script by vet Robert Towne (among others) throws a bone to Cruise's tailor-made vehicle fashioned by the compensated last half with sleek editing, fast-paced stunts and breakneck trademark two-gunning finesse by filmmaker John Woo with his waycool patented slo-mo and white dove imagery. Excellently paced by Hans Zimmer's pulsating score and riffing on Lalo Schifrin's classic tv series' theme adds a nice caffeine rush of adrenaline during the ass-kicking mano a mano in the climactic brutal brawl.