By Matthew Bitz
Last week, when I saw "Mission Impossible 2," I was not impressed. In fact, I was disappointed. What? Yes, I was.
Unfortunately, like so many films, the sequel was not as good as the original. Maybe it was the fact that five minutes into the movie, I knew exactly what was going to happen for the remaining hour and a half. Of maybe it was the fact that this felt more life a remake of "The Matrix" than a spy story.
Whereas "Mission: Impossible" had plot twist after plot twist and kept one guessing, MI2 was more stunts and special effects than anything else. Perhaps it was the movie's director, John Woo, the master of Hong Kong action films, who changed the feel and pace of MI2. For any of you who have seen his films, you know that they are filled with high-flying stunts and explosions.
But Mission Impossible is not all about action, if you remember the series. It has a really neat story and it always was able to keep you guessing. It had the feel of a real spy movie.
Mission Impossible 2 had no plot twists, no credibility, and in places, the dialogue was flat out nonexistent. If this movie was under a different title, like "Tom Cruise Looking Angry with Lots of Guns," it would have done lots better.
It was the character of Ethan Hunt who was most unbelievable of everything. In the first movie he has the panicked attitude that gave the tension reality. Here, he just kicks people in the head or shoots them. It works, but it's just not Mission Impossible.
Maybe I am being a bit harsh on this one. It was a fun and entertaining movie, so why am I complaining?
Because it just wasn't the same. Maybe I'm too much of a stickler for tradition, but I wanted this film to be every bit as good as the original, because I felt it had the talent to pull it off.
If you still haven't seen this, still go, because it is lots of fun just not as much as the first one.
