Mission: Impossible II is easily my least favorite of the five movies in the series, not due to any technical issues, but Woo’s style did not fit in with the core feeling of a Mission: Impossible, not to mention Tom Cruise, as great and deadicated of an actor as he is, looked ridiculous performing kung-fu moves.
Mission: Impossible II
(2000)
Genre(s): Action, Suspense/Thriller
Paramount | PG13 – 123 min. – $31.99 | June 26, 2018
Date Published: 06/19/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Ethan Hunt (TOM CRUISE) partners up with the beautiful Nyah Hall (THANDIE NEWTON) to stop renegade agent Sean Ambrose (DOUGRAY SCOTT) from releasing a new kind of terror on an unsuspecting world. But before the mission is complete, they’ll traverse the globe and have to choose between everything they love and everything they believe in.
Quick Hit Review: I’m not entirely sure why the producers, which includes Tom Cruise, went this route with Mission: Impossible II, which has elements of M:I for sure, but the mish-mash of martial arts fighting style really did not mesh well. In fact, the final fight scene between Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Dougray Scott’s Sean Ambrose was utterly ridiculous, but not in the entertaining sort of way. There were parts, particularly early on, that I really enjoyed and when it most felt like, you know, an actual Mission: Impossible film with disguises, nifty gadgets, a gorgeous Hunt girl in Thandie Newton and you can never go wrong with Anthony Hopkins even in a small role as the new IMF chief. Same goes for Ving Rhames returning as Luther Strickell (while the other guy, John Polson, was rather bland for as zany the character was supposed to be).
As much as I do like John Woo as a filmmaker with his unique style, not to mention those mother f***ing doves, that style was not right for a Mission: Impossible film. The only upside was that the filmmakers did take time off and what we got was J.J. Abrams’ M:I-3, easily a game-changer; impressive since the studio could’ve just limped along since this movie made a ton of money (and adjusted for ticket inflation, ranks second domestically). |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Commentary by Director John Woo – Woo provides an interesting and expansive track offering up insights into style, story and his vision for this sequel. I do think having a partner in the booth would’ve made for a more dynamic track, though. Behind the Mission (14:28) is your typical making-of featurette where they go through how the sequel came about with interview sound bites with the cast and crew. Really, it’s nothing special but you do get an idea about the process of filming the movie. Mission Incredible (5:12) tackles the John Woo trademarked action sequences and Cruise’s eagerness to take it to the limit (sorry, had to). Impossible Shots (TRT 34:17) is a selection of 11 action sequences featured throughout the film and taking a look at how they were accomplished with comments by John Woo. Finally we get the Music Video (4:33) for “I Disappear” from Metallica, an Alternate Title Sequence (0:37) and the Excellence in Film and Generation: Cruise tribute footage. |
VIDEO – 5.0/5 |
| Paramount once again impresses with Mission: Impossible II’s 2160p high-definition presentation on 4K UHD. Although I wasn’t wild about the film, there is no doubt director John Woo has that visual flair to his movies and this is no exception, colors are vivid and bright, gearing towards the warmer spectrum, while skin tones are natural looking. The transfer itself is incredible sharp while still keeping the film noise and grain. |
AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| The disc comes with, like the first and third movies, an upgraded Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track from the old, and underwhelming, Dolby Digital 5.1 track. This, as you could imagine, sounds remarkable with John Woo’s action-eccentric scenes encompassing all five channels with an extra lift from the LFE track while also outputting crisp and clear dialogue levels via the center speaker. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, Mission: Impossible II is easily my least favorite of the five movies in the series, not due to any technical issues, but Woo’s style did not fit in with the core feeling of a Mission: Impossible, not to mention Tom Cruise, as great and deadicated of an actor as he is, looked ridiculous performing kung-fu moves. The 4K release has great video and audio transfers and some okay bonus features. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.