Review of Mission Impossible 2

Introduction

Having visited the set of this film this year (by that I mean the whole of Sydney, Australia, where a lot of it was shot and a large part of the film is based) I thought that it was about time that I got round to watching it.

The ingredients for this film all look mouthwatering on paper. Directed by John Woo, written by Bob Towne (writer of one of my all-time favourites, the classic Chinatown), and with an array of top Hollywood talent on-board (Hopkins, Cruise, Newton, Scott). Having the right ingredients isn`t the key though, it`s following the recipe to make sure that it all blends together nicely. Does it?

Video

A sparkling 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, which all looks rather lovely. Excellent levels of detail, loads of vibrant colour and a lot of nice Australian scenery into the bargain. Parts of this film almost serve as a holiday video - you get a nice little trip across the harbour to remind you of the trip to Manly or Taronga Zoo. Australia also makes a good double for Spain too, as the church scenes were filmed in a church not far from Sydney harbour bridge.

This is of course a Woo film, so you get lots of trademark Woo stuff, with loads of slo-mos, people leaping around with a gun in each hand and some kung fu style fighting. And some preposterous motorbike chase stuff thrown in too.

Audio

A big booming and banging DD5.1 soundtrack which matches up to the all-action visuals perfectly. Monstrous amounts of good bass, loads of good surround effects and everything just sounds great. One to impress friends with.

Dialogue is always audible, even if it is a little cringeworthy at times.

Features

A smattering of extras on this early Paramount disc, shame it wasn`t an indication of things to come....

"Mission Improbable" is my favourite of these, an excellent send up of Cruise himself.

"Behind the mission" is a making of featurette, which just lets everyone pat each other on the back without good reason. "Mission Incredible" focuses on the stunts - at least it has some behind the scenes footage. "Impossible Shots" also looks at some of the stunts and tricky scenes in the film. There`s also a commentary track with Mr Woo, but it`s all a bit too friendly and full of praise for Cruise for my liking.

Rounding up we have a Metallica video, alternate title sequence (dull), and some DVD Rom content, including a nice interactive map of locations in Sydney.

Conclusion

It`s not really a Woo film in the end - it`s a Cruise film. Whilst Woo films are generally great (well the pre-Hollywood ones), Cruise films aren`t really all that great. Yes, there are Woo trademarks, but it`s just too much about Tom Cruise looking like a great action hero, flicking his hair and posturing. You might find yourself shouting insults at the screen, and there`ll certainly be some cries of disbelief. Lots of silly face and voice swapping just adds insult to the injury.

It is fun if you can switch your brain off, but it`s a shame that you have to switch it off to enjoy it on any level. The disc itself is great, with fantastic picture and sound, and (by Paramount`s standards) a lot of extras. If you want to buy then you won`t go wrong with this disc. If you`ve been to Sydney and you`re missing it, a quick rental might bring some of those memories flooding back...