Product Description

When renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Scott) threatens to release the deadly \""Chimera\"" virus into the population, it is up to IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his beautiful partner Nyah Hall (Newton) to stop him.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 2-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4311 in DVD
• Brand: CRUISE,TOM
• Released on: 2006-04-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 123 minutes

Amazon.com
Visually stunning, and a likely must for John Woo aficionados, the second Mission: Impossible outing from megastar Tom Cruise suffers from an inconsistent tone and tired plot devices--not only recycled from other films, but repeated throughout the film. Despite remarkable cinematography and awe-inspiring, trademark Woo photography, the movie offers a tepid story from legendary screenwriter-director Robert Towne (Chinatown, Without Limits) and a host of other writers, most uncredited.

It is, regrettably, as forgettable as the first big-budget, big box-office MI in 1996, and it's clear (as Towne confirms) that the plot was developed around Woo- and Cruise-written action sequences. The film combines equal elements of romance and action, and is best when it features the stunning allure of Thandie Newton as Nyah, a master thief recruited by the sinewy charms of Ethan Hunt (a fit Cruise). Deeply in love after a passionate night, the couple must then combat MI nemesis (and Nyah's former lover) Sean Ambrose (Ever After's Dougray Scott). Ambrose holds hostage a virus and its cure, and offers them to the highest bidder.

Woo's famed mythic filmmaking is far from subtle, with heroic Hunt frequently slow-motion walking through fire, smoke, or other similar devices, replete with a white dove among pigeons to signal his presence. The emphasis on romance is an attempt to develop character and a more human side to superspy Hunt, but still the dreary story proves a distraction from the exciting action sequences. John Polson (as an MI team member) is an Aussie talent to keep an eye on. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews

A walk in a very pretty park
John Woo's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 is a sight for the eyes and a joy for the ears. Unfortunately, that's really about it. Easily the weakest of Tom Cruise's M:I series, M:I2 is also the most non-canon of the three in terms of character writing and design. While the first and third films in the series featured a gritty style with just enough action to get the pulse running, M:I2 is all action. Outrageous action. Slow-motion gun battles, dueling motorcycles, and explosions are the name of the game this time around, with Woo lending his signature doves and run, gun and dive gunplay to the franchise. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of anything resembling a story. You see, Mr Robert Townsend, who co-wrote the first film, was told that the first's plot was too complicated for audiences, and was basically asked to write in filler to take place between the elaborate explosions. Still, Townsend writes some great filler, with Anthony Hopkins coming on board in an uncredited role and delivering the film's best lines. Hans Zimmer provides the film's score, which while hardly original, fits the mood of the picture perfectly, conveying the larger-than-life summer action feel brilliantly. Acting is about what you'd expect from a film of this kind, and while the visual style is slick and the action pieces breathtaking, both feel out of place. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE worked because it wasn't James Bond, but stood on its own two feet. That's sadly not the case with M:I2, as other than the music and visuals, the film is too busy chasing after 007 to amount to anything. Finally, the character of Ethan Hunt spends the entire film acting atypically when compared with the first and third films. Here, he comes across as a thrillseeker while in the others he's more pragmatic. My advice: Watch the first, skip the second, and move right to the third.

It's just an action movie
I think this movie was rated bad by people because it was so different from the first one. I went to watch this movie thinking it was going to be long, kinda drab but still in its own way interesting like the first. But instead it added a few things that the first one could have used like ACTION. I think this movie was a good combination of a modern action movie well balanced with
technical expertise and suspense. This movie had a sexy feel that flowed smoothly throughout the movie that just kept you hook until the end. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt. Anthony hopkin and Ving Rhames where also good elements added for this movie.

MI2: Revisited
Yeah, I know. It's so easy to 'dis this flick. And hey, the first time I saw it, I was not a huge fan either. However, I happened to catch this movie again the other day.

Now, I am of the opinion that a movie's first and foremost job is to entertain -- not to enlighten, not to inform, not to make us feel more intellectual because we have plowed the shadowy depths of a film's varied and multi-layered philisophical underpinnings. If a movie fails to entertain, then it has failed utterly. I don't care how successful it is on any other front.

MI2 is a very entertaining movie. You can't take your eyes off of it. The action is completely engaging and there's just enough plot and dialogue in between. I know, I know; you guys all want to look cool and agree with the rest of the sheeple, er, filmgoers by dismissing this flick as mere fluff, but if you're looking for any sort of depth from this sort of fare, what in tarnation were you thinking???

This movie is entertaining, therefore it succeeds.