Aye, Spy!
"The name is Hunt. Ethan Hunt."
Okay, okay. Actor/producer Tom Cruise never actually says this line in his new summer blockbuster sequel Mission: Impossible 2. But he could almost get away with it. With action movie director John Woo (Face/Off, Broken Arrow) making his debut in the Mission: Impossible franchise, "Cwoose" (Cruise and Woo) have pulled off a sleek, fun, post-modern James Bond flick. If only the real Bond movies of late could follow this formula.
Witness when, on behalf of the Mission: Impossible spy team, Hunt (Cruise) attempts to recruit a brunette beauty (Thandie Newton) as she burglarizes a bauble from a Barcelona bathtub. Their flirtation, covert maneuvers, and spy toys make for a scene that ranks with the better Bond moments. Substitute Cruise for the newest bland Bond, Brosnan—Pierce Brosnan—and you get a modern, American 007 (or at least a decent 004).
But forget that. You're wondering how M:i-2 stacks up to M:i-1. Overall, better. For one, it actually makes sense—or comes awfully close. The first Mission left dumbfounded audiences muttering, "Huh?" With M:i-2, pay attention, and you'll probably get it.
True, there's no instant classic scene, like M:i-1's hanging Hunt on a wire in an alarm-happy computer room. But while M:i-2 lacks—to use computerese—a "killer-app" sequence, it boasts a greater number of slick, sharp, well-constructed ones. The movie in general is tighter and better focused than its predecessor. And, oh yeah: cooler.
In fact, it's just an outright different kind of movie. You can tell by Tom Cruise's longer hair. Besides that, the dark, damp, post-cold war setting of Mission 1 is gone; replaced, mostly, by warm, sun-baked Australia. The cloak and dagger stuff gets a modern make-over. Agent Hunt gets a love life with the dark and sultry Nyah Hall (Newton). And with the injection of his trademark martial arts, director Woo turns Tom Cruise into Tom Fu.
And while other modern action directors keep accelerating the speed and fury of their action scenes—to the point where audience grasp gets left in the dust—Woo knows when to slow things down for maximal effect.
The story looks forward to the 21st century, rather than back to the mid-20th. Cruise's enemies here are a genetically engineered new killer virus (the human kind), the pharmaceutical industry, and the stock market. How 2000 can you get? And for old time's sake, the movie throws in an M:i agent gone villain.
Of course, keep this all in perspective. You have to park your knowledge of odds and physics a good two miles from the theater. But no matter how unfeasible the on-screen action seems, keep remembering the words of Cruise's new boss (played by an uncredited Anthony Hopkins). "This isn't Mission Difficult," he says. "It's Mission Impossible."