Aug 26, 2001 02:16 AM
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The inferior sequel rears its ugly head yet again. Classic John Woo action is the only thing that makes this movie. Other than that, there is nothing else that you will find remarkable.
First of all, the surprises, twists and turns and shocks of the first movie are just completely left out in this movie. You never would have expected some of the events in the first one to happen, but they did. In this film, you see everything coming a mile away. The very few scenes that are intended to be shocking or surprising are too blatantly obvious to deliver the effect.
The plot suffers from misdirection and boredom. With a cheesy love sub-plot thrown into a story about a killer virus that a former IMF agent is eager to get his hands on, there isn't much you'll find enjoyable or engrossing. Missing the suspense of the original, you won't need to think or try to put two and two together. And once again, a renegade IMF agent is the villain. What is it with these guys? Do they go evil after they have one too many missions? Everything is pretty much right there on a platter.
The action is classic John Woo, but becomes way too unbelievable to be appreciated. Ethan Hunt has accuracy with his gun that would make the Terminator jealous, and pulls off stunts that are just a bit too over-the-top for my tastes. I also didn't know that they make guns with unlimited ammo nowadays. Throughout the whole movie, you will see Ethan Hunt reload his gun no more than one time. The motorcycle and driving stunts are done fairly well, but again, become too unbelievable to be appreciated. Last time I checked, Ethan Hunt was an IMF agent, not Neo from the Matrix.
Overall, if you want some mindless action and crazy stunts, then you might enjoy this movie. However, if you enjoyed the first movie, you will probably find that this sequel is going to fall short of expectations. The film moves slowly, and the end fight drags on way too much, at which point you will be asking yourself 'when is it gonna end?' Unfortunately, M:I2 does not live up to the hype, or the lofty expectations of the original.
