good story takes a nose-dive

Rating: 4/10 (8 July 2000)

This isn't really Mission Impossible, it's double-0 1 Tom Cruise working alone. sorry, I don't consider sending in a recruited jewel theif and watching how she interacts with the bad guy much of a carefully crafted "sting" like the old MI episodes.
OK, so it's not MI, but it's still a good spy story. Tom Cruise has gotten beyond Risky Business -- he's a real actor now, as Eyes Wide Shut shows. Actually, he's the best thing in the whole film. (though I'm not much of a Cruise fan.)
Mr. Woo -- you sure pulled out all the Hollywood cliches in the book. Two people gazing at each other across a dance floor -- must be love! Sorry, I didn't find that convincing, and the two cars tangoing to the edge of the cliff... more unrealistic than the martial arts stuff that comes later.
OK, my only other major gripe is with the jaunting motorcycles. The shoot-em-up motorcycle chase, that was a thrill--one of the best chase scenes I've seen in a long time, too bad about the farcical chicken race at the end.
Still, the story was good, I would have liked to seen it a bit more developed, but this is an action flick after all. The high-tech gadgets: COOL! the heroine's safe finding/breaking equipment--straight out of James Bond. The exploding sunglasses were a bit much, but I think it was a plus that in the end, our hero didn't rely solely on gadgets, but did things the old fashion way -- tough guy style, like the original Bond (read the books.)
OK, this isn't a gripe, but I thought the bad guy was just a really bad actor. Totally exaggerated. Is this guy supposed to be ruthless or just a big loud ego? Very flat character, not at all matching Cruise's subtle and balanced acting.
If you liked Romeo Must Die, you'll like MI2. If you thought it was shallow, you'll think the same of MI2. Don't expect substance, but there's a lot of flash!
average rating: 2 1/2 stars out of four.