Mission: Impossible II
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| Mission: Impossible 2 | |
 Theatrical teaser poster |
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| Directed by | John Woo |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Tom Cruise Paula Wagner |
| Written by | Screenplay: Robert Towne Story: 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 |
| Studio | Paramount Pictures Cruise/Wagner |
| Distributed by | Home video & United States theatrical Paramount Pictures Non-US theatrical United International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | North America: May 24, 2000 |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125 million |
| Gross revenue | USA: $215,409,889 Worldwide: $546,388,105 |
| Preceded by | Mission: Impossible |
| Followed by | Mission: Impossible III |
Mission: Impossible II (also known as M:I-2) is a 2000 film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer. It is a sequel to Brian De Palma's 1996 film Mission: Impossible with Cruise reprising his role as agent Ethan Hunt of the IMF, a top-secret espionage and clandestine operation agency.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In Sydney, Australia at a facility called Biocyte, a Russian scientist named Dr. Nekhorvich (Radé Sherbedgia) creates a virus called 'Chimera' (named after the Greek monster that had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent) along with the cure, known as 'Bellerophon'. Nekhorvich calls upon Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to accompany him on a flight to Atlanta, Georgia, with IMF presuming he means to deliver Chimera into safe hands. Whilst flying over the Rocky Mountains, an announcement is made by the captain (Hugh Stamp played by Richard Roxburgh) that there has been a drop in cabin pressure. As a precaution, he releases the oxygen masks. Ethan gets up to find out what is going on; meanwhile, the masks knock out all the other passengers. When Ethan returns, he kills Nekhorvich by breaking his neck and reveals himself to be IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Ambrose and his team steal Nekorvich's suitcase (with sample vials inside) and parachute to safety just as the plane crashes into a mountain.
In Texas, the real Ethan Hunt is climbing a mountain free hand (without any equipment) whilst on vacation. When he reaches the top, he receives a message from his superior, Mission Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins), who informs him that Chimera has been stolen. If he accepts the mission of recovering it, he may choose any two team members, but the third must be Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), a professional thief. Ethan travels to Seville, Spain to find Nyah. He finds her in the act of trying to steal a valuable diamond necklace from a club. The next morning he follows her through the countryside where the two have a friendly car chase. During the chase Nyah's car nearly goes over a cliff, and she is saved by Ethan. He then convinces her to join his team, and she sleeps with him. That evening Ethan meets commander Swanbeck at the IMF HQ in Seville. Swanbeck informs Ethan that Nekhorvich (who was a good friend of Ethan's) is dead. Ethan is puzzled about how IMF got Nekhorvich on the flight to Atlanta. Swanbeck explains that since he couldn't find Ethan at the time, he sent Sean Ambrose instead (Ambrose having doubled for Ethan in the past). Now, however, Ambrose and his team have gone rogue. Swanbeck suggests that Nyah be used to gain information from Ambrose about his plans because Sean had been wanting Nyah back ever since she left him six months ago after a significant relationship.
Ethan and Nyah travel to Sydney where Ethan meets with Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), his partner from the first film, and Billy Baird (John Polson). Nyah meanwhile arrives at Sean's compound to begin retrieving information (not before sleeping with Sean). Hugh Stamp questions Sean about her as he is suspicious she may be a Trojan horse sent by IMF. Sean cuts off Hugh's finger for questioning him about her. Later at a horse racing event, Ethan and his team are watching Sean and Nyah. Sean leaves Nyah to go and speak to John C. McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), the head of Biocyte and Nekhorvich's boss. Sean shows McCloy a video on a digital camera in the bar. When Sean returns to Nyah, she manages to get the camera's memory card from Sean's left jacket pocket and then goes to find Ethan (Sean knows the card is missing but pretends to remain in the dark about it). The video turns out to be footage of the effects Chimera had on one of Nekorvich's colleagues; after a person has been infected with it for 20 hours, nothing can save them, not even Bellerophon. Nyah then makes it back to Sean and laces the memory card into his right jacket pocket rather than his left.
That evening Ethan and his team kidnap John C. McCloy (when Billy poses as his regular driver). McCloy wakes up in a hospital bed and comes face to face with the ghost of Nekhorvich, who makes McCloy believe he is infected with chimera. McCloy then reveals that Nekhorvich had actually taken all of Biocyte's Bellerophon, in the vials he carried (stolen by Sean) when traveling to Atlanta. IMF had thus been mistaken in assuming that Sean had stolen Chimera. McCloy still has some of the virus, and has made a deal with Sean to regain the cure stolen by Nekhorvich. The ghost is revealed as Ethan in disguise. Meanwhile Nyah is at Sean's compound where she meets Ethan, who tells her to stay there and do what Sean asks. When she goes, it is revealed Ethan is Sean in disguise. Now that he knows of Nyah's true allegiance and that Ethan plans to go into Biocyte to destroy Chimera, Sean gathers his team together and they head to Biocyte.
At the same time, Ethan gets dropped into the Biocyte roof by Billy. He then goes about destroying the last remaining samples of Chimera. Just as he is about to destroy the last of it, Sean and his team open fire, and Ethan is ambushed. During the gun fight the last sample of chimera gets dropped on the floor and Sean orders Nyah to retrieve it. When she does, she injects herself with it so that Sean will have to keep her alive. Ethan escapes, and Sean's team take Nyah away.
Next morning, Sean and his team go to a Biocyte facility on the outskirts of Sydney where they meet John C. McCloy. During the meeting, Sean sets Nyah loose in downtown Sydney. As she is infected with chimera, demand for Bellerophon would sky rocket, starting with 17 million people in Australia. Sean demands McCloy's money for funding a massive purchase of stock options so that Sean would then make billions and would also own 51% of Biocyte. McCloy refuses at first but having no choice, transfers the money. Ethan breaks up the meeting by blowing down the door and killing some of Sean's men (Hugh Stamp included). Ethan then manages to steal Bellerophon, and a car chase between Ethan's team and Sean's men breaks out along the Sydney coast roads.
Luther manages to locate Nyah, who is on the cliffs about to kill herself so she can't affect any other people with chimera. Ethan orders Luther and Billy to go and collect her while he deals with the rest of Ambros's team. After a motorbike chase, Ethan leads Sean to a deserted beach where they fight each other in hand to hand combat. Ethan gains the upper hand and knocks Sean unconscious before Luther and Billy arrive with Nyah. Just has Ethan is walking to Nyah, Sean points a gun at Ethan from behind and tries to shoot him. Luckily Ethan finds his gun in time to shoot Ambrose himself. Nyah is injected with Bellerophon just in time.
Later Ethan informs his superior that chimera was all destroyed by fire and that is why he couldn't bring back a living sample of the virus. He then goes on another vacation, this time with Nyah in Sydney.
[edit] Cast
- Tom Cruise ... Ethan Hunt
- Dougray Scott ... Sean Ambrose
- Thandie Newton ... Nyah Nordoff-Hall
- Ving Rhames ... Luther Stickell
- Richard Roxburgh ... Hugh Stamp
- John Polson ... Billy Baird
- Brendan Gleeson ... John C. McCloy
- Anthony Hopkins ... Mission Commander Swanbeck (Uncredited)
- Rade Šerbedžija ... Dr. Nekhorvich (as Radé Sherbedgia)
- William Mapother ... Wallis
- Dominic Purcell ... Ulrich
- Mathew Wilkinson ... Michael
- Nicholas Bell... Accountant
- Cristina Brogers ... Flamenco Dancer
- Kee Chan... Chemist
- Kim Fleming ... Larrabee
- Natallie Eaton ... Barbie
- Sam Jones... Plane Passenger
[edit] Production
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.
The studio expressed concern over the safety of filming Ethan Hunt's entrance in the film, where he is rock climbing. Cruise refused to drop the idea because he could not think of a better way to reintroduce the character. There was no safety net as he filmed the sequence, but he did have a harness. He tore his shoulder when performing Hunt's jump from one part of the cliff to another.[1]
[edit] Box office
The film was a financial hit and grossed close to $215 million in its domestic North American release and approximately $331 million abroad.[2] It was the highest-grossing movie of 2000.
[edit] 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 - $330,978,216
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $546,388,105
[edit] Reception
Critical reaction to Mission: Impossible II was mixed. The film holds a rating of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes[3] and 60 out of 100 on Metacritic.[4]
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."[5] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly felt the film was a "throwaway pleasure" but also "a triumph of souped-up action."[6]
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."[7] Desson Thomson of the Washington Post said that "[John] Woo [...] takes complete command of the latest technology to create brilliant action sequences."[8] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said, "Check your brains at the popcorn stand and hang on for a spectacular ride."[9]
J. Hoberman of the Village Voice called the film "a vaguely absurd thriller filled with elaborately superfluous setups and shamelessly stale James Bond riffs."[10] 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."[11] Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader said that "no hero or villain winds up carrying any moral weight at all."[12]
The promo title featured on posters for the film, "P:B:M-1", was a spoof of the promo title "M:I-2" for the film Mission: Impossible II. A teaser trailer included on the DVD spoofed Mission: Impossible II with scenes from Piglet's Big Movie.
The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards for Worst Supporting Actress (Thandie Newton) and Worst Remake or Sequel, but won neither.
[edit] Music
[edit] Score
The original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and performed by Lisa Gerrard.
[edit] Soundtrack
The Mission: Impossible II Soundtrack includes Limp Bizkit's rendition of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme, "Take a Look Around".
[edit] See also
- Notorious, an inspiration for part of the plotline in Mission: Impossible II.
[edit] References
- ^ "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: Series 16: Episode 1". BBC iPlayer. 2009-01-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fm6wz/Friday_Night_with_Jonathan_Ross_Series_16_Episode_1/. Retrieved on 2009-01-24.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible II (2000)". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mi2.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-05.
- ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Mission: Impossible II reviews, Metacritic
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Desson Thomson, Washington Post
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Lou Lumenick, New York Post
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, J. Hoberman, Village Voice
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Dennis Harvey, Variety
- ^ Mission: Impossible II review, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
[edit] External links
- Mission: Impossible II at the Internet Movie Database
- Mission: Impossible II at Allmovie
- Mission: Impossible II at Box Office Mojo
- Interview with screenwriter Robert Towne
| Preceded by Dinosaur |
Box office number-one films of 2000 (USA) May 28 - June 4 |
Succeeded by Gone in Sixty Seconds |
| Preceded by Gladiator |
Box office number-one films of 2000 (AUS) June 4 - June 18 |
Succeeded by Me, Myself & Irene |
| Preceded by Chicken Run |
Box office number-one films of 2000 (UK) July 9, 2000 |
Succeeded by Chicken Run |
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