Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2" is Still on Fire

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2023 (No. 1920) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some sensuality

DIRECTOR:  John Woo

WRITERS:  Robert Towne; from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Barga (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeffrey L. Kimball (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Steven Kemper and Christian Wagner

COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell, Nicholas Bell, Kee Chan, Antonio Vargas, and Ving Rhames with Anthony Hopkins

Mission: Impossible 2 is a 2000 action-thriller and espionage film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise.  It is a sequel to the 1996 film, Mission: Impossible, and is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller.  In Mission: Impossible 2 (also known as M:I-2), Ethan Hunt battles a rogue fellow agent in a bid to obtain a genetically modified virus.

Mission: Impossible 2 opens in a lab at Australia's Biocyte Pharmaceuticals.  There, Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija), a bio-genetics scientist, sends a message to his old friend, “Dimitri,” which is the cover name for Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).  Nekhorvich's employer, Biocyte Pharmaceuticals, has forced him to create a biological weapon, which he calls “Chimera,” and a cure for it, which he names “Bellerophon.”  Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), plans to profit from Bellerophon as cure for Chimera after the virus is released into the unsuspecting world.

Nekhorvich injects himself with Chimera and carries Bellerophon with him and heads to the U.S., where he hopes to meet “Dimitri.”  However, he is intercepted by IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who is, in some ways, Ethan Hunt's equal and opposite.  Ambrose and his men steal Bellerophon and begin their hunt to obtain Chimera, not knowing that it was inside Nekhorvich.

IMF Mission Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) orders Hunt to lead his team – computer hacker, IMF agent Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), and helicopter pilot, William “Billy” Baird (John Polson), on a mission to get Chimera before Ambrose does.  Swanbeck also orders Hunt to add to his team a professional thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), who was, until recently, Ambrose's girlfriend.  Can Ethan trust Nyah, or has he gotten to close to her?  And is Ambrose more than a match for Ethan?

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies.  Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011),  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.

That's just my personal thing.  M:I-2 is its own thing.  Directed by Hong Kong auteur, John Woo, the film features the hallmarks of Woo's directorial style, including his “bullet ballet” action sequences, stylized imagery, slow motion action and character drama scenes, Mexican standoffs, and fight sequences that recall the Chinese martial arts sub-genres “wuxia” and “wire-fu.”  However, the film doesn't really kick into high gear with some of Woo's best flourishes until its second half.

The first half of the film focuses on Ethan Hunt's obsession with Nyah Nordoff-Hall, which mirrors Sean Ambrose's obsession with her.  This “love triangle” allows Woo and his screenwriters to build tension between Hunt and Ambrose that explodes with jealousy and rage and eventually leads to a fight to the death.  M:I-2 may be the film in this franchise in which Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt shares the most screen time with other characters, especially Newton's Nyah and Scott's Ambrose.

Anyway, the film really begins to rumble in the second half.  The last half-hour or so is a masterpiece of directing, film editing, cinematography, and stunt coordinators and stuntmen.  My high rating is mainly because of this exhilarating last act, which makes me want to see this movie again.

Tom Cruise was in his late 30s when Mission: Impossible 2 began filming, yet he looks much younger onscreen, about a decade or so (at least to me).  His long hair, that boyish grin, his immature and petulant anger and jealousy would be largely gone 19 months later when his trippy drama, Vanilla Sky (2001), arrived in December 2001.  So for me, Mission: Impossible 2 is a good-bye to the Mission: Impossible film franchise's beginnings.  The series would rapidly begin to morph with the third entry, and boyish Tom Cruise would finally give way to adult Tom Cruise.  At least, I now remember why I loved this film so much 23 years ago, and now, I want to see it again.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

NOTES:

2001 Image Awards (NAACP):  2 nominations: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Ving Rhames) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Thandie Newton)

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 17th to 23rd, 2019 - Update #26

Support Leroy on Patreon:

BOX OFFICE - From TheWrap:  Disney's "Frozen II" is reviving the box office with a 42 million dollar opening Friday.

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  Director Tim Miller talks about his film, "Terminator: Dark Fate," its box office failure, clashes with James Cameron, and not having final control of the film.

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  With the opening of "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," it is time to take a look back at the early work of the film's star, Tom Hanks.  Do you know his early film, "He Knows You're Alone"?  Do you remember his star turn in the notorious 1982 TV movies, "Rona Jaffe's Mazes and Monsters"?  [I remember the latter, dear readers. - Leroy]

----------
MOVIES - From ShadowandAct:  Lena Waithe talks about sharing a "story by" credit with controversial author, James Frey ("A Million Little Pieces"), on the upcoming film, "Queen & Slim."

From ShadowandAct:  I did not know that there was tension over Black British actors playing African-American chacters, but there is.  So "Queen & Slim" stars, Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, talk about it.

----------
CULTURE - From TheGuardian:  At the Anti-Defamation League's "Never is Now" summit on antisemitism and hate, actor Sacha Baron Cohen called tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube the greatest propaganda machine in history.  Cohen, in a wide-ranging speech, said that Facebook, if it had existed at the time, would have let Adolf Hitler buy ads for the "final solution" to Germany's "Jewish problem."

----------
MOVIES-MUSIC - From Deadline:  "Bohemian Rhapsody" producer, Graham King, has secured rights from the Michael Jackson estate to make a film about the "King of Pop's" life.  King will have access to all of Jackson's music.

----------
SCANDAL - From Deadline:  Apple is delaying the release of director George Nolfi's "The Banker," starring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie.  The film is based on a true story about Bernard Garrett, Sr., and some troubling allegations have been levied against Bernard Jr., a consultant on the film who has also been involving in its promotion.

----------
TELEVISION - From TheDailyBeast:  Legends John Cleese and Eric Idle talk about 50 years of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," President Trump, and "Brexit."

-----------
BROADWAY - From THR:  The planned Michael Jackson Broadway musical, "MJ the Musical," has found its Michael, Tony nominee, Ephraim Sykes.

----------
BLM - From THR:   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wonders if films about American slavery are good for African-Americans.

----------
AWARDS - From Variety:  The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award nomination have been announced.  The winners will be revealed Sat., Feb. 8, 2020, one day before the Academy Awards.

----------
MOVIES - From GQ:  A look at the 50-year friendship of Oscar winners, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, the stars of Martin Scorsese's film, "The Irishman."

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  "Robocop Returns" a direct sequel to the original "Robocop" film (1987), has a new director, Abe Forsythe, who has been getting buzz for his zombie comedy, "Little Monsters," starring Lupita N'yongo.  Forsythe replaces Neill Blomkamp.

----------
SCANDAL-MUSIC - From YahooCelebrity:  Actor and Grammy-winning recording artist, Harry Connick, Jr., claims that in the early 1990s, legendary actor and singer, the late Frank Sinatra, acted “completely inappropriate” with Connick’s then-girlfriend and now-wife, model Jill Goodacre.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From Deadline:  The news of a sequel to Todd Phillips' "Joker" and new films featuring origin stories of other DC Comics' characters may not be correct... yet.

----------
BOX OFFICE - From DigitalSpy:  Writer-director Elizabeth Banks acknowledges that her just-released reboot of "Charlie's Angels" is a flop, but is still proud of the film.

----------
STAR TREK - From THR: Noah Fawley, creator of the "Fargo" TV series for FX, will reportedly direct the fourth film in the "Star Trek" reboot series.  Chris Pine will reportedly return as Captain Kirk.  This film is separate from Quentin Tarantino's long-developing "Star Trek" project.

----------
MOVIES - From TheHollywoodReporter:  Screenwriter Gregory Allen says that once upon a time a Hollywood executive suggested that Oscar-winning actress, Julia Roberts, play Harriet Tubman, a real-life Black American historical figure.  The exec said that Tubman lived so long ago that no one would remember that she was Black.

----------
MOVIES - From  Variety:  Actress Pom Klementieff ("Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2") has been cast in "Mission: Impossibe 7," which is due July 2021.

----------
STREAMING - From Deadline:  Netflix has hired legendary screenwriter Robert Towne and acclaimed director David Fincher to pen a TV pilot script that will act as a prequel to the classic 1974 film, "Chinatown."   Towne won an Oscar for writing "Chinatown."

----------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:   The winner of the 11/15 to 11/17/2019 weekend box office is "Ford v Ferrari" with an estimated gross of 31 million dollars.

----------
AWARDS - From Deadline:  President Donald Trump names his first "National Medal of Arts" recipients.

----------
STREAMING - From FlickeringMyth:  Bill Murray will reunite with Peter and Bobby Farrelly on the Quibi comedy, "The Now," in a recurring role.  Murray appeared in the brothers 1996 film, "Kingpin."

----------
MOVIES - From Deadline:   John Woo comments on the reboot of his 1990s hit film, "Face/Off," and adds his comments to the Scorsese vs. Marvel Studios comic book movies debate.  He also mentions that Oscar-winner Lupita N'yongo has left the remake of his 1989 film, "The Killers."

OBITS:

From Variety:  The actor, Michael J. Pollard, has died at the age of 80, Wednesday, November 20, 2019.  He earned an best supporting actor, Oscar nomination for his appearance in the film, "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967).  He also appeared in Rob Zombie's gruesome cult classic, "House of 1000 Corpses" (2003).

From YahooSports:  Former National Football League player, Fred Cox, has died at the age of 80, Wednesday, November 20, 2019.  Cox was a "kicker" for the Minnesota Vikings for 15 years and played in all four of the Vikings "Super Bowl" appearances.  However, Cox may be best remembered for inventing the soft football that would become the "Nerf" football.

John Ridley Wins USC Libraries Scripter Award for "12 Years a Slave"

[USC Libraries 2014 Scripter Award winner John Ridley with Dean of the USC Libraries Catherine Quinlan and Scripter Literary Achievement Award winner Robert Towne. (Photo Credit: Ron Murray) and courtesy of Busineswire.]

"12 Years a Slave" Wins USC Libraries Scripter Award

John Ridley and Solomon Northup take the 26th-anniversary honor

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Screenwriter John Ridley joined family members of nineteenth-century author Solomon Northup to receive the 26th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award for “12 Years a Slave.” Selection committee co-chair Howard Rodman announced the winners at the black-tie event on Saturday, Feb. 8, at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library.

“Until I read Solomon’s memoir, I didn’t know what being a writer was all about,” Ridley said in his acceptance speech. “The way that Solomon wrote, the clarity with which he wrote, and more importantly, the strength of his character, what he went through without bitterness, without hate—that really taught me something.”

“12 Years a Slave’s” Scripter win adds to the growing number of awards for the Fox Searchlight film, including best motion picture in the drama category at last month’s Golden Globes. The film is nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Scripter, established by the Friends of the USC Libraries in 1988, honors the screenwriter of the year’s most accomplished cinematic adaptation as well as the author of the written work upon which the screenplay is based. Scripter is the only award of its kind that recognizes authors of the original work alongside the adapting screenwriters.

Ridley based his adaptation on Northup’s memoir, a bestseller when published in 1853 by Derby & Miller. In the 20th century, the work lapsed into obscurity until Louisiana State University Press issued an annotated version in 1968, following work by two Louisiana researchers to verify the story’s details.

USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan welcomed the attendees gathered in the Los Angeles Times Reference Room of USC’s historic Edward L. Doheny Memorial Library.

“A library does more than collect ambitious life stories, more than make certain the great literary, philosophical, and scientific thinkers live on to inspire endless generations of discoverers,” Quinlan said. “An excellent library also creates experiences for students that inspire them to seek meaning in their studies, their careers, and their lives.”

Co-chaired by Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Naomi Foner and USC screenwriting professor and vice president of the Writers Guild of America, West, Howard Rodman, the Scripter selection committee chose “12 Years A Slave” from a field of 86 eligible films.

The USC Libraries also honored Robert Towne with the Literary Achievement Award for his contributions to the art of adaptation throughout his career. His daughter, Chiara Towne, presented the honor.

“The truth is, there are no shortcuts to great screenplays about the past,” she said. “But growing up, the thing I noticed that set my father’s writing apart was the extraordinary, unending amount of research that goes into his films.”

Towne, a native of Southern California, has set much of his work there, including his scripts for Ask the Dust, which Towne adapted from the 1939 novel by John Fante, and the Depression-era Chinatown, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1975. He is currently working as a writer on the final season of AMC’s television series “Mad Men.”

In receiving the award, Towne credited the guidance and inspiration he has received from writers and other artists throughout his career, “They have given me the advantage of their perspective and given it to me truthfully. What I am standing on is their advice and help.”

Ridley and Rodman in their remarks acknowledged Towne’s work as inspiration to them and the community of screenwriters. “I’m not sure this room has been filled with more wisdom than when Robert Towne stood here alone,” Rodman said.

This year’s event featured a silent auction, the proceeds of which support the renovation of USC’s Leavey Library. Donors to the auction included AOC, Arthur Murray Santa Monica, At Your Side Private Exercise, Bennett Farms, Bouchon Beverly Hills, Coravin Wine Access System, The Chopra Center For Well Being, Dancing with the Stars, The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Jay and Kristine Eagan, Fess Parker Inn, Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, Fred Segal Salon, The French Reflection, Rachel Galey Make-up, The Geffen Playhouse, The Grammy Museum, Grand Pacific Palisades Resort, Kinara Spa, The Kitchen For Exploring Foods, Knock Knock, LA Saddlery, The Los Angeles Clippers, The Los Angeles Lakers, The Los Angeles Opera, Lafond Winery, Lux Dog Daycare, Metropolitan Fine Arts, The Montage Beverly Hills, Neiman Marcus, The NFL, Christine Ofiesh, OPI, OSEA Malibu, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Picca Restaurant, Bob and Betty Plumleigh, Poseidon Stand Up Paddleboards, Victor Raphael / Clayton Spada, Rivera Restaurant, The San Diego Chargers, SBE Restaurant Group, Stephen’s Hay & Grain, Terranea Resort, Total Wine and More, The Voice, WEN by Chaz Dean, and Wilshire Dental Center Group & Dr. Brent Kaplan DDS.

In-kind sponsors this year included John and Dana Agamalian and Blue Ice Vodka; Esquire Bar & Lounge of Pasadena, Calif.; Penguin Group; and the Wine of the Month Club.

scripter.usc.edu

Review: "The Parallax View" is a Bit Askew (Remembering Alan J. Pakula)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 199 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Parallax View (1974)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Alan J. Pakula
WRITERS: David Giler and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (based upon the novel by Loren Singer)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gordon Willis
EDITOR: John W. Wheeler
COMPOSER: Michael Small

DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of thriller

Starring: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Kenneth Mars, Walter McGinn, Kelly Thordsen, Jim Davis, Bill McKinney, and Paula Prentiss

The subject of this movie review is The Parallax View, a 1974 drama and political thriller directed and produced by Alan J. Pakula. The film is based on the 1970 novel, The Parallax View, which was written by Loren Singer. While David Giler and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. are credited as the film’s scriptwriters, acclaimed screenwriter, Robert Towne, also contributed to the screenplay, but did not receive screen credit.

Joseph Frady (Warren Beatty) is the kind of rash and reckless reporter who needs to defend his reputation, both to colleagues and to his editor. So when a colleague comes to Frady and tells him that all the reporters who witnessed the assassination of a leading U.S. Senator are being murdered, even he is skeptical. The reporter was a witness, and she is frantic with fear that someone is out to murder her. After her mysterious death, Frady comes to believe there is some truth to the story. His investigations leads him to a shadowy and nebulous conspiracy involving an enigmatic therapy institute called The Parallax Corporation. Frady infiltrates Parallax to become a patient, unaware of how much they know about him.

The Parallax View is a fairly good suspense thriller with a good take on conspiracy theories. Director Alan J. Pakula uses lots of long tracking shots that follow the action and film narrative from a great distance. This heightens the film’s sense of mystery and confuses the audience in such a manner that they can sympathize with Joe Frady’s confusion. The film has many twists and turns, and often the audience must wonder who knows what. How successful has Frady’s infiltration of Parallax been, and who is the hunter and who is the hunted?

The film’s major flaw is flat and stiff acting that sticks with the movie until the last act, and the Parallax Corporation itself seems like a B-movie convention or the kind of trite villain found in potboiler fiction. Still, The Parallax View is a good movie about bureaucratic intrigue, government chicanery, and especially makes a good point about the intervention in political affairs by mysterious and private interests. I highly recommend this to conspiracy theory fans.

6 of 10
B

-----------------------

Review: First Tom Cruise "Mission: Impossible" is Still a Thrill

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible (1996)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: Brian De Palma
WRITERS: David Koepp and Robert Towne; story by David Koepp and Steven Zallian (based on the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen H. Burum (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Paul Hirsch
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman

ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, Dale Dye, and (uncredited) Emilio Estevez

The Impossible Missions Force (I.M.F.) must recover a computer disc that contains the code name of C.I.A. agents in deep cover in Eastern Europe and capture the spy who not only has the disc but also seeks the other half of the information, which gives the real identities of those same agents.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is the point man for the mission, under the guidance of Jim Phelps (a character holdover from the “Mission: Impossible” television series 1966-73 and a revival 1988-90) and leads his team (which includes parts played by Kristin Scott-Thomas and an uncredited Emilio Estevez). The mission goes awry and places Hunt, the sole survivor, under the false suspicion of betrayal.

Hunt recruits a new team: Phelps’s wife, Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), a thuggish, Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), and a master computer hacker, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), all to help him discover and expose the real mole in I.M.F.

One of the smartest summer movies of all time, Mission: Impossible, upon its release, left audiences shaking their heads. The film itself is like one of the mind games for which the television series was famous. The characters in the film, other than Hunt, are not what they seem, and the writers filled the film with hints that come and go quickly that inevitably reveal the secrets and secret identities. M: I is light on plot, but deceptively simple. Hunt must obtain the object of desire, the deep cover agent list that will in turn bring all the players out of the shadows and into the light of day. Only then, can he prove his innocence.

Cruise proves to be a very good actor (in addition to be such a magnifying screen presence) in the hands of a good director, and De Palma (Casualties of War), despite his spotty box office career, is a fine director. A student of Alfred Hitchcock’s work, De Palma brings the master’s sense of suspense and mystery to M: I. As with a Hitchcock lead, we know that Hunt is innocent, but the odds are so stacked against him that we wonder if he will escape alive, let alone solve the puzzle.

Jon Voight as Phelps fairly drips with duplicity and mystery; he is simultaneously an wise old teacher and reptilian cold war era spy. Vanessa Redgrave brings a lively elegance to the proceedings as the arms dealer, Max. Henry Czerny, as Eugene Kittridge, brings to the show the similar essence of his character Robert Ritter from Clear and Present Danger.

Mission: Impossible is a fine action thriller full of riveting suspense. It demands one’s attention with its unorthodox approach to action movies. Its premise is a gorilla that hangs by a thread on the suspension of disbelief. But it engages and demands that the viewer not only pay attention but uses his mind. The creators only ask that you surrender part of your thinking to them, while most movies, especially summer fare, ask for all of your good sense.

8 of 10
A

---------------------------

----------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).