By Allison Pond
allison@newsroom.byu.edu
'Mission: Impossible-2' has almost everything -- a hero, a sexy woman with attitude, a deadly virus, earsplitting explosions, a high-speed chase and ... handfighting and pigeons? Well, OK, but there's still one thing missing from this James-Bond-meets-John-Woo adventure -- a good plot.
The special effects and stunts are amazing in this action thriller that is sure to rake in millions, despite it's sheer lack of realism and a story line that leaves a lot to be desired.
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is ordered to report to Seville, Spain, where he is assigned to hunt down terrorist and former secret agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Ambrose has stolen the antidote to a deadly virus, Chimera, developed by an Australian pharmaceutical company.
When Hunt learns that his striking Spanish sidekick, Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton), who also happens to be his newest romantic interest, is Ambrose's ex-girlfriend, the stage is set for over an hour of explosions, gun fights, plastic masks and predictable 'surprises.'
The rock-climbing, motorcycle and rappelling stunts look real -- but, honestly, would we settle for anything less in this digital age? Somehow, though, it's not quite as suspenseful when the laws of logic and nature are utterly ignored and all the audience can think is, yeah, right. 'Impossible' is a fitting adjective -- or maybe it should have been 'Mission: Ridiculous.'
Like most fight movies, the plot is just a confusing formality, an excuse to film fighting that stretches beyond the limits of human endurance -- the actors' as well as the audience's. And with all the ammunition these guys are flinging around, why don't they ever run out?
As for the romantic aspect -- please. Once we get past the first half-hour of innuendo, including a cheesy slow motion love-at-first-sight scene and Hunt and Hall shacking up after knowing each other for two days, we are supposed to believe that they truly care for each other enough to sacrifice their lives? It's touching and all, but come on.
One other gripe: this movie is all about Tom. The rest of the good guys spend the whole movie in vans and helicopters while Ethan Hunt goes solo with crazy acrobatics in skyscrapers and compounds all over the globe.
So, if you like unbelievable action stunts with great cinematography, this is right up your alley. But for the more intelligent moviegoer who doesn't want to feel 5 percent dumber after the movie than before, it just may be a let-down.