We both rushed
to see this film with great expectations and even greater hope that it
would live up to the fun and excitement of the 1996 Mission
Impossible. We feared that the task was insurmountable. By the time
we walked out of the Century City Cineplex Odeon, we could hardly
remember the original film. Our heads were spinning with the millisecond
precision of the action scenes, some of which bear the signature
elements from the first movie. More than anything, we were overtaken by
the weaving of two polarized forces; one between a man and a woman, and
the other between two warriors enacting the eternal battle of good and
evil.
Master screenwriter Robert Towne was asked to
create Mission: Impossible 2 around the action sequences already
blocked out by director John Woo. In the hands of an amateur, such a
task would surely lead to a disaster, but Towne gives us a great story.
The Woo influence is not limited to stunning choreography of helicopter,
motorcycle and foot chases, and awesome hand-to-hand combat. We are also
treated with a version of the identity shifts via elaborate facemasks
like in Woo’s Face Off.
Very quickly, we learn that agent Ethan Hunt’s
mission will involve a deadly biological agent. The global jeopardy
rises as more details are revealed, including a heavy dose of corporate
greed. You may rest assured that discovering those details will come
with the use of mind-blowing stunts and super-advanced gadgets with
plenty of the trademark mountain and building climbing and free fall
action and dangling like in the original Mission Impossible.
Ethan Hunt’s adventure, however, begins and ends as a romance. He
falls in love with Nyah, the world-class thief he needs for his mission.
The nature of the mission will put pressure on their relationship until
Ethan is forced to choose between saving his love and saving the world.
Just like a superhero we expect Hunt to be, he refuses to sacrifice
either. He wants to win, and by God, this is a fight the likes of which
we have never seen for its sheer spectacle.
To shape the global and the personal jeopardy into
a visual feast, John Woo employs two visual metaphors; the flamenco
dance and the mythic battle between a knight and a demon, and not just
any knight, but one ascended almost to the level of an angel fighting in
hell.
Nyah and Ethan first notice each other in a
flamenco club in Spain. The semi-lit room resonates with the magnetic
tone of the guitar and the heavy, sensual beat of the dancers as they
pound out their rhythms and writhe their bodies. Nyah and Ethan fix
their gazes and walk around the room, following each other, mimicking
the dancers between them. Their bodies are far from touching, but they
are already enveloped in each other. The dance continues in a car chase.
Just like in flamenco, she is always out of reach, and he never takes
his eyes off her, even when they spin out of control, their cars
inseparable in a centrifugal pull. The beat of the flamenco remains in
the background, and the invisible soul connection it symbolizes follows
Ethan as he watches over Nyah, often in elaborate, almost magical ways.
Of course, Mission Impossible 2 relies on
our awe of the physical beauty of the main players. Tom Cruise as Ethan
radiates ability from chiseled mountain climber’s body, Adonis jaw and
chin, and luminous eyes where his boyish charm has mellowed and deepened
with maturity. Thandie Newton as Nyah, has the face of a fallen angel
with lustrous almond skin, fine bone structure, and deer-like body in
its quick athleticism. Ethan's and Nyah's romantic, erotic, and human
chemistry develops with warmth often lacking from this kind of flick.
Ethan’s fight against Sean Ambrose (Dougray
Scott) takes the form of a myth about a knight who frees the planet from
the grips of a demon. John Woo is known to take the action spectacle out
of control, but here, every detail of the final showdown is tailored to
the mythic metaphor. As the two men rush each other on motorcycles, they
become the ancient warriors charging their horses. Their final hand
combat unleashes the primal forces of good and evil. To the end, Ethan,
though an awesome killer, never kills unnecessarily or wastes the
innocent.
Wow, we liked this film. There are a few logic
holes that we will not disclose for fear of spoiling surprises, but for
those who savor action fare, special effects, and mythic symbols, this
is a winner.
