This was awful overall. Tone is out of place for MI, too overstilized, too much slo-mo, too much cheesiness and also sexist nonsense.
Thankfully the series got revitalized with MI3. This film was like some romance starting Tom Cruise.
Probably my favourite but this isnt really woo's style. They overrated directed him.
shareI agree. MI:2 was awful. Just eye-rolling bad.
shareI actually prefer this to three. But I don't watch either of them. I skip right from the first one to Ghost Protocol when I watch the series.
shareI just came here wondering if John Woo is mostly to blame for why M:I2 turned out the way that it did and is often considered to be the very worst in the series:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/ohsgxd/i_feel_like_i_lost_17_brain_cells_watching/
Mission: Impossible 2 feels like an action parody in all the right and wrong ways:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/v0pd8h/mission_impossible_2_feels_like_an_action_parody/
This movie probably has too much John Woo style and so as a result, it does fall into the "so bad-it's good" category.
It's almost unbelievable that Tom Cruise allowed this movie to become so awful and still release it. It should be acknowledged that one thing Cruise does very well is cater to his fanbase, even if you think he's not a great actor. Consistency is his strong point, and MI2 is so wildly off-kilter for a Tom Cruise vehicle, it really feels like he didn't have much of any input in the production or direction. I could be completely mistaken in this take, but the evidence presents itself in the fact that MI2 is nothing like any other MI film, and not even similar to any other Tom Cruise movie before or since.
shareits seems to me that Cruise kind of sat back and let Woo have final say on just about everything (after Cruise had decided to go a more action based route after MI1) bc Face/Off was such a hit and like a fricking masterpiece.. any stuff Cruise mightve felt was abit 'off' at the time/gone against his instincts he probably figured 'well this guy directed Face/Off, and i want MI2 to be like Face/Off so...'
i mean Face/Off *IS* a fricking masterpiece but it was like a one off/lighting cant strike twice deal (like The Matrix was for The Wachowskis). a big part of that was bc it had (post Pulp Fiction) Travolta and Cage (completing his 90s action trilogy) at the peak of their uber cool/box office powers in an insane action film like no one had seen before .. whereas MI2 was floppy hair Cruise in acrobat mode and a no name who was gonna miss out on being Wolverine in a bizarre remake of Notorious meets Face/Off (hero/villain switching faces, doves, twin gun fire, end joust/beach fight) idenity with the openings lifted from Star Trek V and Goldeneye and the action ending T2 meets The Matrix. with the soundtrack to Gladiator
I wonder if John Woo's style simply doesn't translate well to a Hollywood film (Face/Off maybe the one exception) when compared to in Hong Kong, where the jaunty music, gratuitous slow-motion, over-zealous camera moves and such doesn't feel inherently cheesy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/3g8cms/comment/ctvsvg3/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/3g8cms/just_watched_mission_impossible_2_again_it_was/
"I wonder if John Woo's style simply doesn't translate well to a Hollywood film (Face/Off maybe the one exception)"
I don't care much for Face/Off myself. Hard Target was Woo's best American film.