Mission: Impossible II

All you want to know about Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible 2
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
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

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 is also the film's producer. It is a sequel to Brian De Palma's 1996 film Mission: Impossible with Cruise reprising his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.

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.

Contents

Plot

In Sydney, Australia, a Russian scientist named Nekhorvich is working in his laboratory. While working on three sample cultures, Nekhorvich mentally laments in his participation in creating such a dangerous force of nature. Nekhorvich, a molecular biologist, while attempting to create the ultimate cure, "Bellerophon", in order to create his "hero", he had to create what every hero requires; a villain, and the "villain" he created was a super-virus named "Chimera", after the Greek hero's nemesis. Nekhorvich, having weeks to plan, decides to journey to Atlanta and give "Chimera" to the U.S. Government, in order to expose his employers' criminal plans. Nekhorvich then destroys two of the three cultures of "Chimera", and then injects the third into his arm, using his own body as a petri dish. With 20 hours before "Chimera" advances to the point "Bellerophon" won't be able to save him, Nekhorvich summons his old friend Ethan Hunt to escort him to Atlanta. While suffering from the virus' effects, Nekhorvich makes it onto a Boeing 747. When the plane reaches the Colorado Rockies, the plane is seized by unknown agents and all of the passengers and plane crew anesthetized, except for Nekhorvich, who suspected something it wrong. This is tragically well-founded, as "Ethan" then knocks Nekhorvich out and snaps his neck, killing him, and then takes his briefcase, which contains other "Chimera" samples. "Ethan" rips off his face mask, revealing he is Sean Ambrose, an IMF Agent as are his team, who then set the plane to crash before jumping from the plane by skydiving.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the real Ethan is climbing to the top of a steep cliff using nothing but chalk to get his hands enough friction. Soon, with only a modicum of difficulty, Ethan reaches the top. No sooner has he reached it that an IMF helicopter arrives and fires a rocket at him, which lands beside him un-exploded, and deposits a pair of sunglasses that contain a message from his immediate superior; an kindly old IMF Official named Michael. Michael informs Ethan that Ambrose and his team have gone rogue, and he is to assemble a team of his own and report to Seville for his briefing and more details. While two of his three-man-team are of his choice, the last must be Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a civilian, yet highly-professional & expert thief, but Ethan is not told why she must be included. The sunglasses then self-destruct five seconds later.

Nyah remains a fugitive from multiple law-enforcement agencies around the world, but Ethan catches her in the attempt to steal a valuable diamond necklace (using intelligence Michael provided in the briefing), but Hall refuses to let him speak. Ethan tracks her down in his car, and Ethan and Nyah have a semi-friendly car chase, which ends in them almost crashing and falling from a steep cliff-edge. Ethan saves Nyah before her car falls from the cliff. Aroused by his kindness, Nyah agrees to hear him out and sleeps with him.

Later that evening, Ethan meets Michael in the local IMF office. Michael tells Ethan of Nekhorvich's death, along with that of Gradsky, Nekhorvich's assistant who died some time earlier. Ambrose was sent by Michael to assume Ethan's image and escort Nekhorvich to the United States, as Ethan himself failed to mention where he was going on holiday and so couldn't be reached. The IMF knows virutally nothing about what Chimera or Bellerophon is, or what Ambrose is planning. Ethan's mission is to find out and stop him. Nyah is to be an inside agent, as she had a relationship with Ambrose that she eventually ended and Ambrose has been desperately wanting her back ever since.

Nyah, after realizing Ambrose's actions have led to people's deaths, agrees to the plan, and Ethan arranges for her to be falsely arrested, and information on this to be sent to Ambrose. As Ethan predicts, Ambrose arranges for Nyah's freedom and for her to be brought to his secret compound on an island of Sydney. Ambrose completely believes Nyah to truly wanted to return to him for his actions, but Ambrose's right-hand man, Hugh Stamp, remains vigilant and suspicious. Nyah is forced to seduce Ambrose to solidify his trust in her. All the while, her progress is monitored by Ethan and his team-mates; his old friend Luther Stickell, and the semi-eccentric Australian Billy Baird.

Eventually, at a race track, Ambrose is caught talking John C. McCloy, the ruthless CEO of Biocyte, the corporation that employed Nekhorvich. Though nothing is heard, McCloy is shown a disk of the effects of "Chimera" on Gradsky, which occur 20 hours after exposure. Nyah is able to get Billy a copy of the disk, but Ambrose notices her putting it back. However, he pretends to remain in the dark about her allegiances.

McCloy is abducted by the IMF team and, doped up on drugs and setting up a fake hospital room, McCloy believes he is infected with Chimera, and is visited by Nekhorvich's ghost. Nekhorvich manipulates McCloy into revealing he ordered Chimera to be developed as a bioweapon for profitable military applications, and then bought the services of Ambrose and his team to steal the virus back after Nekhorvich's theft and escape, but now Ambrose has become ambitious, and is demanding McCloy pay £37 Million for the virus samples, to which he agreed to. McCloy then passes out due to knockout gas.

At the same time, Nyah is summoned to a meeting with Ethan, who has briefly broken into the compound to give further instructions.

As it turns out, "Nekhorvich's ghost" was the real Ethan gaining details on Ambrose's plans, while the "Ethan" at the compound is Ambrose himself, who now knows of Nyah's allegiances (especially when Nyah tried to come onto him). Ambrose and Stamp plan for Nyah to be bait for Ethan.

In the end, after additional betrayals and a lengthy bike chase, Ambrose is killed and Chimera destroyed.

Cast

Production

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]

Music

Score

Main article: Mission: Impossible II Score

The original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and performed by Lisa Gerrard.

Soundtrack

Main article: Mission: Impossible II 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

  1. ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
  2. ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Metacritic
  3. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
  4. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
  5. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
  6. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Desson Thomson, Washington Post
  7. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Lou Lumenick, New York Post
  8. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, J. Hoberman, Village Voice
  9. ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Dennis Harvey, Variety
  10. ^ 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''
v • d • e
The Mission: Impossible franchise
Television:
Films:
Mission: Impossible · Mission: Impossible II · Mission: Impossible III
Characters:
Video games:
Soundtracks:


v • d • e
Films directed by John Woo
1970s
Fist to Fist (1973) • The Young Dragons (1974) • The Dragon Tamers (1974) • Princess Chang Ping (1975) • Hand of Death (1975) • Money Crazy (1977) • Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) • Hello, Late Homecomers (1978) • Follow the Star (1978)
1980s
From Riches to Rags (1980) • To Hell with the Devil (1981) • Laughing Times (1981) • Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982) • The Time You Need a Friend (1984) • Run Tiger Run (1985) • Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) • A Better Tomorrow (1986) • A Better Tomorrow II (1987) • The Killer (1989) • Just Heroes (1989)
1990s
Bullet in the Head (1990) • Once a Thief (1991) • Hard Boiled (1992) • Hard Target (1993) • Broken Arrow (1996) • Once a Thief (1996) • Face/Off (1997) • Blackjack (1998)
2000s
Mission: Impossible II (2000) • Windtalkers (2002) • Paycheck (2003) • All the Invisible Children (2005) • Red Cliff (2008)
Other media
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_II"

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