| Mission: Impossible 2 | |
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| Directed by | John Woo |
| Produced by | Tom Cruise Paula Wagner |
| Written by | Ronald D. Moore Brannon Braga |
| Starring | Tom Cruise Dougray Scott Thandie Newton Ving Rhames |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey L. Kimball |
| Editing by | Christian Wagner Steven Kemper Stuart Baird |
| Distributed by | USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video Paramount Pictures Non-USA Theatrical United International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 24, 2000 |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125 million |
| Gross revenue | Domestic: $215,409,889 Worldwide: $545,902,562 |
| Preceded by | Mission: Impossible |
| Followed by | Mission: Impossible III |
| IMDb • Allmovie | |
Mission: Impossible II, or M:I-2 as it is also known, is a 2000 film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer. It is a sequel to Brian De Palma's 1996 film Mission: Impossible with Cruise reprising his role as agent Ethan Hunt of the IMF, an unofficial branch of the CIA likely modelled after their elite Special Activities Division.
Production of the film was troubled and was shut down for several weeks as the script was re-worked. As a result both Dougray Scott and Thandie Newton lost the chance to appear in starring roles in other films. Cruise and Woo had reportedly clashed several times throughout filming over creative differences, but both walked away from it on good terms.
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Plot
While working at Biocyte, an Australian company, Nekhorvich, a Russian scientist, is forced to develop a deadly bioweapon named "Chimera" which lies dormant in its host for twenty hours after infection, but then rapidly causes the body's red blood cells to disintegrate and cause hemorrhaging and death while becoming highly infectious. At the same time, Nekhorvich has developed a potent counter-agent, "Bellerophon" to stop the effects of Chimera while in incubation. Nekhorvich realizes he must expose Biocyte's research, and contacts his old friend Ethan Hunt to help assist him to reach the U.S. Government; in order to transfer Chimera, Nekhorvich uses his own body as a petri dish and makes sure he can reach the United States in time to administer Bellerophon. However, as he and Hunt cross the Rocky Mountains on a passenger plane, the rest of the crew and passengers are anesthetized, and "Hunt" reveals himself to be Sean Ambrose, another IMF agent, who then kills Nekhorvich and takes the briefcase containing his research. Ambrose and the rest of his team jump from the plane before it crashes, killing all those aboard.
The real Ethan Hunt learns that Nekhorvich's request for help came while he was out mountain climbing during his vacation, and IMF was forced to send Ambrose and his team in his place, but Ambrose has now gone rogue. Hunt is assigned to stop Ambrose's plan, and is allowed to pick two members to assist, but the fourth has been assigned for him, a expert thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall who is a civilian and was recently Ambrose's lover. After selecting his old colleague Luther Stickell and the semi-eccentric Australian Billy Baird as his other team members, Hunt sets off to find Nordoff-Hall based on limited intelligence. He manages to catch her in the act of stealing a diamond necklace, and convinces her to help join the team. Nordoff-Hall returns to Ambrose, attempting to rekindle their relationship while acting as an inside man and monitored through Stickell and Baird, and discovers that Ambrose has been in discussion with John C. McCloy, the CEO of Biocyte. Nordoff-Hall is able to obtain a copy of the research reports on Chimera that McCloy provided to Ambrose and get it to Hunt; Ambrose is aware of this and takes action to lure Nordoff-Hall to reveal her true alliances.
Hunt and his team kidnap McCloy and make him believe he has been infected with Chimera in order to learn what Biocyte's plans were. McCloy reveals that they were planning on releasing Chimera and then make a fortune off the sale of Bellerophon. After Nekhorvich stole the only samples, McCloy contacted Ambrose to help return them, but Ambrose turned the tables, asking for a large sum of money to return the samples, which McCloy has agreed to. Knowing the samples are at the Biocyte headquarters, Hunt and the others plan a daring break-in. However, their presence was expected, and Ambrose has prepared an ambush while holding Nordoff-Hall as a hostage. A firefight breaks out, and Nordoff-Hall manages to get free and inject herself with the last remaining sample of Chimera, forcing Ambrose to keep her alive for at least twenty hours in order to get McCloy's money. Hunt is able to flee the building and regroup with Stickell and Baird, and trace Ambrose to a Biocyte storage facility near Sydney. They learn that Ambrose has let Nordoff-Hall loose in Sydney, such that when Chimera becomes active, it will launch an outbreak that will send Biocyte's stocks skyrocketing due to the demand for Bellerophon, and Ambrose is now blackmailing McCloy to make sure he has a controlling interest in the company's shares. Hunt breaks up the meeting, grabbing samples of Bellerophon, and a large battle between Ambrose's men and Hunt's team breaks out. Hunt's team is able to defeat all but Ambrose, and Hunt orders Stickell and Baird to locate Nordoff-Hall while he fights Ambrose alone. Hunt gains the upper hand and kills the rogue agent while his team members find and return Nordoff-Hall; Hunt is able to inject the Bellerophon into her body just in the nick of time to stop Chimera. Hunt is debriefed and confirms that all samples of Chimera have been destroyed, and then returns to his vacation, this time spending it with Nordoff-Hall on an Australian beach.
Cast
- Tom Cruise ... Ethan Hunt
- Dougray Scott ... Sean Ambrose
- Thandie Newton ... Nyah Nordoff-Hall
- Ving Rhames ... Luther Stickell
- Richard Roxburgh ... Hugh Stamp
- John Polson ... Billy Baird
- Brendan Gleeson ... John C. McCloy
- Anthony Hopkins ... Mission Commander Swanbeck (Uncredited)
- Rade Šerbedžija ... Dr. Nekhorvich (as Radé Sherbedgia)
- William Mapother ... Wallis
- Dominic Purcell ... Ulrich
- Mathew Wilkinson ... Michael
- Nicholas Bell... Accountant
- Cristina Brogers ... Flamenco Dancer
- Kee Chan... Chemist
- Kim Fleming ... Larrabee
- Natallie Eaton ... Barbie
- Sam Jones... Plane Passenger
Production
- John Woo .... director
- Terence Chang .... executive producer
- Michael Doven .... associate producer
- Paul Hitchcock .... executive producer
- Paula Wagner .... producer
- Tom Cruise .... producer
- Ronald D. Moore .... screenplay
- Brannon Braga .... screenplay
- Tony Ciccone .... additional editing
- Jeffrey L. Kimball .... cinematography
Box office
The film was a financial hit and grossed close to $215 million in its domestic American release and approx. $330 million abroad. It was the highest-grossing movie of 2000.
Box office totals
- Budget - $125,000,000
- Marketing cost - $37,200,000
- Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $57,845,297
- Total Domestic Grosses - $215,409,889
- Total Overseas Grosses - $330,492,673
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $545,902,562
Reception
Critical reaction to Mission: Impossible II was mixed. The film holds a rating of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes[1] and 60 out of 100 on Metacritic[2].
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said that "if the first movie was entertaining as sound, fury, and movement, this one is more evolved, more confident, more sure-footed in the way it marries minimal character development to seamless action."[3] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly felt the film was a "throwaway pleasure" but also "a triumph of souped-up action."[4]
Ella Taylor of LA Weekly said that "every car chase, every plane crash, every potential drop off a cliff is a masterpiece of grace and surprise."[5] Desson Thomson of the Washington Post said that "[John] Woo [...] takes complete command of the latest technology to create brilliant action sequences."[6] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said, "Check your brains at the popcorn stand and hang on for a spectacular ride."[7]
J. Hoberman of the Village Voice called the film "a vaguely absurd thriller filled with elaborately superfluous setups and shamelessly stale James Bond riffs."[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety said the film is "even more empty a luxury vehicle than its predecessor" and that it "pushes the envelope in terms of just how much flashy packaging an audience will buy when there's absolutely nada inside."[9] Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader said that "no hero or villain winds up carrying any moral weight at all."[10]
The promo title featured on posters for the film, "P:B:M-1", was a spoof of the promo title "M:I-2" for the film Mission: Impossible II. A teaser trailer included on the DVD spoofed Mission: Impossible II with scenes from Piglet's Big Movie.
Music
Score
The original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and performed by Lisa Gerrard.
Soundtrack
The Mission: Impossible II Soundtrack includes Limp Bizkit's rendition of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme, "Take a Look Around".
See also
- Notorious, an inspiration for part of the plotline in Mission: Impossible II
References
- ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Metacritic
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Desson Thomson, Washington Post
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Lou Lumenick, New York Post
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, J. Hoberman, Village Voice
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Dennis Harvey, Variety
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
External links
| Preceded by ''Dinosaur'' |
Box office number-one films of 2000 (USA) May 28, 2000 – June 4, 2000 |
Succeeded by ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' |
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