1/5 Mission: Tom Cruise's Ego
  by James C. Dascoli (Millburn, NJ USA)
This movie was made for two reasons and two people only: Tom Cruise and his ego. From the opening unrealistic scene of Tom Cruise mountain climbing and jumping from rock to rock in the arizona desert you knew this movie was all about Cruise. Jump to Cruise chasing after some beautiful woman in a fast car (completely ripped off from James Bond) and he of course he falls in love with her 5 minutes after he gets her in the sack. And shock shock his boss needs Cruise to 'use' her to get his man. Now we get to see the anguished Cruise, followed by the superhero action Cruise.

Why even bother naming this movie Mission Impossible? It was cocktail/top gun/days of thunder with high tech gadgets. Last I checked the actual series and even the first movie was supposed to be about a team. There were at least three requisite pulling off the fake face routine and by the third time not only was there no suspense it was obvious for even a third grader to figure out.

As far as the directing is concerned, yes John Woo is a great director, but he must have shot half the movie in slow motion which made the movie seem ponderous and self indulgent. It's incredible that off all the movies John Woo made this is the only one that is obviously controlled by the star, and the funny thing is I like a lot of Tom Cruise movies. The one star is for the music but even that got on my nerves by the end. For Tom Cruise fans only.

2/5 "Mission-Stay Awake"
  by The Dapper One (Dallas, Tx USA)
This movie in a word, dissapointing. I expected so much more from director John Woo, whose earlier film Face Off was outstanding and action-packed. MI2 though suffers from a deplorable lack of action, at least early on anyways. Although, it's visually stunning at times, there's really nothing here to grab you. I thought this film had very little to do with the Mission Impossible series, and more resembled John Woo's normal action films. The main problem with the film, is that it's main character, Ethan Hawke, played by Tom Cruise, gets involved in a very, long and drawn out relationship with his female co-star. The film spends far too much developing the relationship between the two, and far too little time giving us action. I also don't agree with the other reviewer's opinion that the first Mission Impossible was forgettable. The first film was much truer to the series, and was a very sharp, smartly-acted film. It had action when it was necessary, within the bounds of the story. I'd highly recommend the first film, and only recommend this one, if you need it as a companion piece. This is definitely not a film you'll watch over and over.

1/5 Blown away... by sheer stupidity.
  by kittygalore (Harbor City, CA United States)
I was shocked when I saw the first Mission: Impossible movie, because I had gotten a copy of M:I-2 as a present a couple years beforehand and was not at all impressed. Summary: Hunky guy is recruited with a pair of sunglasses in a rocket. Must recruit cute British-Oriental girl but he sleeps with her before even knowing what she's going to do, which is to get back with her ex so they can find out about a super-sinister virus created to make a market for an antidote. Ex-boyfriend has stolen it and is planning to auction it off, etc. Spy team's sloppy tradecraft gets Cute Girl caught and after an elaborate series of events (how is it that Hunky Guy is considered cool and original when Ex-boyfriend knows his infiltration plan down to the tiniest detail?) Cute Girl makes herself into the only specimen of the virus. Hunky guy shouts "I won't lose you!" and proceeds to kick and punch his way to victory (oh and did I mention there's lame motorcycle jousting?). Cure is administered. Happy reunion. Fadeout.
Listen for the cool Metallica song in the credits. It's the best part.

5/5 Woo! One very good action pic
  by hultrain (Atlanta, GA United States)
OK, Ok, if you've read the reviews (both professional and customer), you've probably heard all the negatives...bad plot, cliches, predictability, etc. etc. And perhaps all of that is true; for example, who could buy a love story that starts out with the hero and heroine making googy-eyes at each other while one of them is dangling periously over the edge of a cliff? But, it seems to me that the whole point of a good action flick is the ACTION, isn't it? I mean, if you want to see great plot, multi-dimensional characters and the like, I direct you to the various films in the Merchant Ivory genre. If you like good action, stylish film-making, and overall bang for your buck, MI:2 is the way to go.

What MI:2 may lack in the complexity of its plot or character development, it more than makes up for it with the complexity of many of its action scenes. This corroborates the rumor that the screenplay was written around the action "set pices" already composed by Cruise and Woo. (And really, shouldn't a good action movie revolve around the actual action scenes?) From the opening of the movie, the famous rock-climbing stunt, you can tell that the action pieces in this movie will be something different. And from the panoramic and breathtaking rock-climbing scene to the motorcycle-chase, cum shoot-out, cum hand-to-hand combat finale, you can't help but be riveted by John Woo's unltra-macho, ultra-stylistic direction. Even a scene involving flamenco dancers is turned into macho eye-candy by Woo's deft film artistry.

And sure, Woo often riverts to the same formula: slow-mo shots, standoffs where all the characters seem to be pointing about a million guns at each other, a strange fetish for doves and pigeons.... But, darn it, all these things look good!

Another, quite refreshing, positive in this movie is that the female character, played by Thandie Newton, is not a simple foil character, made to be used sexually and then killed off to make way for another potential conquest. Instead, she actually makes a unilateral, powerful decision at the movie's climax that affects the entire outcome of the movie. Show me a Bond pic where that happens!

All in all, despite its flaws with plot and character, MI:2 delivers the best of all cinematic guilty pleasures: a good couple of hours on the edge of your seat, and some virtuoso, fun-to-watch film-making. This movie should make any fan of action pics very happy.

1/5 The impossible mission was to make a decent sequel!
  by Timothy Rhodes (WI, United States)
I am writing this reveiw solely on the movie, not the DVD. I made the mistake of seeing this movie in the theater because of my love for the first movie. Watching this movie, I thought I was watching a James Bond movie, and I love Bond movies, but not when I go to see a MI movie. The smothering love story mixed with the utterling annoying slo-mo filming, made me nauseous. I love romances and see the artistic value of the slo-mo, but Woo OVER DID IT. Rhames is the only shining light in this dim sequel and isn;t in it enough to make it worth seeing. The other storyline, the virus, was interesting, but not that much. Maybe its because they focus too much on the dull love story. Unless they TOTALLY re-did the movie for the DVD, avoid this at all costs!