Perhaps the most suitable conclusion to "Mission: Impossible 2" would have been Tom Cruise reaching behind his ear, ripping off his face, and showing that he is, in fact, Pierce Brosnan and that the past two hours had been nothing more than a sloppy James Bond flick. There are multiple scenes in the film, beginning with the opening scene, where Cruise or another character is shown to be someone else wearing a rubber mask and speaking through a taped-on voice chip. Bond, on the other hand, is never seen in any of the rubber disguises. Despite this, the film relentlessly continues through with a weird romance subplot that could only work in a Bond film and self-destructs as rapidly as protagonist Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) task in this picture. This is especially harmful since it prevents filmmaker John Woo from performing what he does best: action. Woo ultimately exhibits his mastery of the craft in the closing 30 minutes or so of the picture, but this only elevates it to mediocrity, not the excellence that a sequel to "Mission: Impossible" requires to be called a success.
Although Woo at the time was not an experienced enough filmmaker to tackle a sophisticated Mission: Impossible narrative, he does grasp one fundamental principle that this rid-the-world-of-a-disease-carried-through-pharmaceutical-plants tale allows: chemicals equal more incredible explosions. Instead of shooting a few individuals and maybe a gas tank on the side of a car, the movie's characters may now hurl grenades into rooms full of bio-hazardous chemicals and flee from a blaze large enough to prepare smores for an entire national convention of hungry boy scouts.
The second good thing about viruses in tubes is that you can utilize colours to make the essentials very plain to everybody and everyone (especially the smaller kids, who will take advantage of the film's PG-13 rating despite being against their best interests). In barely over 20 hours, the crimson material horrifically kills its victims. If administered within those 20 hours, the green material saves the person. It's a little like a game of Green Light, Red Light, but with humanity's very life on the line.
Of course, there are friendly folks and terrible guys who arrive with good chemicals and harmful chemicals. The good men want to get rid of the red stuff, while the evil men want to mass manufacture red and green to boost stock prices and sell the green at exorbitant rates to people in urgent need. Did I mention the hijacked airliner, sexy theft (Thandie Newton) with a coincidence boyfriend (the romantic angle that drags the movie down), and highly protected building that will have to be accessed from the roof by someone? It's okay; I'm still trying to piece together the intricacies of the first film's story.
Cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball does an incredible job capturing some very magnificent backdrop visuals with most of the film situated "Down Under." Kimball's art is always pleasant to the eye, whether it's an early sequence with Ethan Hunt rock climbing over a gorge or the countless orange sunsets, yet it's never too obvious to detract from the storyline.
Sir Anthony Hopkins makes an appearance as Ethan Hunt's employer about halfway through the movie. Our hot hero's employer is played by an exceptional British actor who Her Majesty has recognized. That concludes our discussion. Dame Judi Dench is wearing one of those rubber masks!