Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II (stylized as M:i-II) is a 2000 action spy film directed by John Woo and produced by and starring Tom Cruise. The sequel to 1996 film Mission: Impossible, it is the second installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It follows Ethan Hunt as he is tasked by the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) to find but not destroy a dangerous biological weapon called "Chimera" from rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose with the help of love interest Nyah Nordoff-Hall, Ambrose's ex-girlfriend.
Mission: Impossible II was released in theaters worldwide on May 24, 2000, to strong box office results, and grossed over $546 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2000. The film was followed by Mission: Impossible III in 2006.
==Plot==
Bio-chemical expert Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich sends a message to the IMF for Ethan Hunt, an old friend of his. He warns that his employer at Biocyte Pharmaceuticals forced him to develop a biological weapon to profit from the cure. He arranges to meet with Ethan to deliver the Chimera virus, and its remedy, Bellerophon. With Ethan on holiday, the IMF sends agent Sean Ambrose disguised as Ethan to meet Nekhorvich on a passenger plane. Ambrose goes rogue, killing Nekhorvich and stealing Bellerophon, destroying the aircraft to cover their escape.
IMF director Swanbeck informs Ethan of the circumstances of Nekhorvich's death, and they determine Ambrose is responsible. Swanbeck tasks Ethan with recovering the virus and its cure and has him recruit Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a professional thief presently operating in Seville, Spain -- and Ambrose's ex-girlfriend. Ethan successfully recruits her to trace Ambrose and his team, and to spy on Ambrose, despite her reluctance.
Ethan assembles his team, computer hacker Luther Stickell and Pilot Billy Baird, in Sydney, Australia, where Biocyte laboratories are located, and Ambrose is staying. As Ethan stakes out Biocyte, Nyah rekindles her former relationship with Ambrose and relays information to Ethan's team. Ambrose meets with Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy, and shows him a video of Chimera infecting one of Nekhorvich's colleagues before blackmailing McCloy into cooperating with him. Nyah steals the camera's memory card and delivers it to Ethan. They learn that Chimera has a 20-hour dormant period before it causes death by mass destruction of the victim's red blood cells. Bellerophon can only save the victim if used within that 20-hour window. When Nyah discreetly returns the memory card to Ambrose, he notices it is in the wrong pocket of his jacket.
Ethan's team kidnaps McCloy to force him to give up Bellerophon. However, the only Bellerophon samples were taken by Nekhorvich and are now in Ambrose's hands. Ambrose has the cure but does not have the virus; unbeknownst to him at the time, Nekhorvich injected himself with Chimera to smuggle it out of Biocyte. Ambrose plans to exchange a sample of Bellerophon to McCloy for the Chimera. Ethan's team breaks into Biocyte to destroy the virus before the exchange can take place. Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing the plan, then captures Nyah and raids Biocyte to secure the virus. Ethan can destroy all but one sample of Chimera before Ambrose intervenes, and a firefight ensues, culminating in the sample being dropped on the floor between Ambrose and Ethan. Ambrose commands Nyah to collect the specimen; however, she injects herself with it, preventing Ambrose from eliminating her after the retrieval. Nyah begs Ethan to kill her along with the virus, but Ethan refuses. Ambrose abducts Nyah as Ethan flees the facility.
Ambrose releases Nyah to wander the streets of Sydney in a daze, intending to start a pandemic. He offers to sell Bellerophon to McCloy in exchange for stock options to make him Biocyte's majority shareholder. He plans to get rich from Biocyte's stock due to demand for Bellerophon after Chimera is released. Ethan infiltrates the meeting and steals the remaining samples of Bellerophon. While Ethan is pursued by Ambrose's men, Luther and Billy locate Nyah, who has wandered to a cliffside, intent on killing herself to prevent the eventual outbreak. Ethan kills Ambrose's men, but Ambrose chases him to a beach, where Ethan defeats him in a brutal fistfight. With little time left on the 20-hour countdown, Luther reaches Ethan at the beach. As Ethan is about to give Luther the Bellerophon canister, Ambrose recovers and points a gun at Ethan. Ethan throws the canister to Luther and jumps away from Ambrose's shot while kicking up a pistol from the sand he uses to finally kill Ambrose. Luther injects Nyah with the Bellerophon in time to save her.
Director Swanbeck realizes that Ethan destroyed the virus but the IMF clears Nyah's criminal record, and Ethan starts his vacation with her in Sydney.
==Cast==
*Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and protagonist of the film.
*Thandiwe Newton (credited as Thandie Newton) as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a professional thief brought on to assist Ethan in tracing Ambrose.
*Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, a Computer hacker and IMF agent.
*Dougray Scott as Sean Ambrose. a rogue IMF agent posses Bellerophone.
*Brendan Gleeson as John C. McCloy, CEO of Biocyte at Australia.
*Richard Roxburgh as Hugh Stamp
*John Polson as Billy Baird, a helicopter pilot.
*Rade Šerbedžija as Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich, Creator of Chimera at Biocyte.
*William Mapother as Wallis
*Dominic Purcell as Ulrich
*Mathew Wilkinson as Michael
*Anthony Hopkins as Mission Commander Swanbeck (uncredited)
==Production==
According to screenwriter Robert Towne several action sequences were already planned for the film prior to his involvement and before the story had been written.
The studio expressed concern about the safety of filming Tom Cruise's entrance scene, in which he is free solo climbing at Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab, Utah. Cruise refused to drop the idea because he could not think of a better way to reintroduce the character. There was no safety net as he filmed the sequence, but he did have a harness. He tore his shoulder when performing the jump from one part of the cliff to another. Most of the scenes were also shot in Sydney, Australia.
Thandie Newton discussed her unpleasant on-set experiences with Cruise during the shooting of the balcony sequence in a 2020 interview. According to Newton, Cruise was heavily stressed over the expectations of the sequel being good and was upset during the shooting said scene because she had "the shittiest lines." The two decided to reverse roleplay each other as practice. However, it was unhelpful for her and pushed her "into a place of terror and insecurity." After the shooting was finished for the day, she contacted Jonathan Demme, telling him what happened. When recalled back years later on the incident, Newton said, "Bless him. And I really do mean bless him because he was trying his damnedest." Ian McKellen was offered the part of Mission Commander Swanbeck but turned it down.
==Music==
The film's original score was composed and conducted by Hans Zimmer and features vocals performed by Lisa Gerrard. In addition, the film includes contemporary music such as Limp Bizkit's rendition of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme entitled "Take a Look Around" as well as Metallica's "I Disappear".
While Ethan is rock climbing during his holiday, Zap Mama's remixed version of "Iko Iko" plays on the soundtrack.
Category:English-language films
Category:2000s action thriller films
Category:American films
Category:American sequel films
Category:American action adventure films
Category:American action thriller films
Category:Films scored by Hans Zimmer
Category:Films produced by Tom Cruise
Category:Films about terrorism
Category:Films set in Spain
Category:Films set in Sydney
Category:Films shot in Sydney
Category:Films shot in Utah
Category:Cruise/Wagner Productions films
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Mission: Impossible films
Category:Films directed by John Woo
Category:Films starring Tom Cruise
Category:2:35:1 Aspect Ratio Films
Category:2:39:1 Aspect Ratio Films