Mission: Impossible 2

Written by: Robert Towne Starring: Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames, Anthony Hopkins

It becomes clear about a third of the way through this new John Woo-helmed Hollywood extravaganza just exactly what is going on--and I don’t mean the plot (we’ll get to that in a minute). The important thing is that an American James Bond (in the form of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt) is being born. The first “Mission: Impossible” was a trial balloon; after all, big screen versions of other TV shows had tanked. But after the raging success of “MI-1,” the producers knew they had a franchise going, and now they are craftily repositioning it. Instead of focusing on the complex schemes of the MI force (the way the TV show did), they are focusing on Hunt, and only Hunt, much the way the Bond series is about James and nothing but James.

Fortunately, Cruise is up to the task. He’s a great hero, all steely-eyed resolve and outstanding derring-do. The choice of Woo to direct was also a great one. Although his outing with Jean-Claude van Damme (“ Hard Target ”), which also would have seemed to be a great match, proved a disappointment, Woo is still one of the great action stylists. Whatever the limitations of his other Hollywood outings (“Face/Off” comes to mind), his skill in this area is probably unmatched. And when things really heat up in “MI-2,” they do so with a vengeance, in a classic Woo ballet of violence. In fact, the last half of the film is nothing more than an extended chase and fight sequence, but it is what we have been waiting for since the movie opened, and it delivers in thrilling fashion. The movie rockets into overdrive, gleefully ignoring physics, probability, and the realities of pistol magazine capacity. In other words, pure Woo. One of the great things about Woo is that no matter how frenetic the action gets (and it does) everything is crystal clear; there is never any question about what is going on (as opposed to the action in my current favorite whipping boy, Ridley Scott’s lumbering “Gladiator”--Scott should take an action refresher with Woo).

Woo’s action is lightning quick, but, through a combination of brilliant editing, the judicious use of slow-motion, and what must have been billions of hours of preparation, you see everything--in real time, as it were. (The only time things are unclear is when they are supposed to be, such as when people start using those trademark MI face masks. Indeed, people rip phony faces off with abandon throughout the movie, and I have to say that the effect is better than ever!) Getting to that brilliant action set piece is a little more problematic, however. The picture opens on a curiously static note (one lesson they could learn from the Bond series--open with a bang), and, after a relatively conventional airplane takeover, we finally get to Ethan Hunt himself, and some breathtaking mountain climbing stunts.

But all of this is mere prep work, and there is a lot more rather pedestrian exposition to go before the real fun starts. It is almost as if Woo were restraining himself in the beginning, and, for future reference, he shouldn’t. The story, at least compared to that of the first MI film, is a model of clarity. It seems a killer virus has been developed, and renegade MI agent Sean Ambrose (Scott) wants to unleash it, so he can reap a fortune with stock options in the company that holds the cure. (Boy, if this isn’t a thriller for the NASDAQ age, I don’t know what is, although given the markets lately, Ambrose’s plan seems a bit ill-timed--perhaps he should stick to robbing banks.) Hunt must figure out what the plan is, and then stop it. At the direction of his boss (an unbilled Hopkins, who has the movie’s best line: “This isn’t mission difficult, Mr. Hunt, it’s mission impossible. Difficult should be a walk in the park for you”), he is teamed up with gorgeous thief Nyah (Newton), and naturally sparks fly between them.

The script is by superstar screenwriter Robert Towne, and it is an acceptable piece of work; after all, it is really just a structure on which to hang the action, and it manages this limited task easily. (At least we can follow what is going on--most of the time.) Towne’s one master stroke is to have Hunt and Nyah fall for each other from the start, so that when Hunt must use her to get to Ambrose he feels conflicted about it, and the jeopardy she is in holds more meaning for him. The conventional way to handle it would have been for them to hate each other at first, then gradually learn to like and love each other, after a lot of comic bickering. Towne gets past all that in about five minutes, and it saves the picture (and us) from a lot of predictable jousting. The weakness of the script is the short shrift it gives to just about every other character; the terrific Rhames, for example, is wasted, spending most of the picture tapping on a computer keyboard. (Note for future MI filmmakers--people typing on computers is no more interesting now than it was in the first film.) But, as mentioned, this movie is about creating a new icon.

The essence of the MI series, teamwork (remember how at the beginning of each show Jim Phelps would select the team for the mission, ostensibly choosing them for talents specifically suited to the task at hand?) (never mind that he always seemed to pick the same people) has been replaced by hero building. All of which is not to detract from the movie’s obvious virtues, or its overall success. It is fun to watch, beautifully shot, and reasonably lucid. There are good guys and bad guys (pretty easy to tell apart), a beautiful damsel in distress, and enough staring matches and gun battles to stock a whole slate of action thrillers, all served up by Woo with the panache that has made him justifiably legendary. I would say it bodes well for the next in the series (and believe me, there will be a next). By then, they should really have it nailed. (5/25/2000)