The Screen Addict | M:I-2

Realism is overrated. I watch films because I want to escape from reality, not to be reminded of it. My sentiments on this subject are particularly in line with the films of one of the greatest Action directors ever – John Woo.

Woo has made many, many genre-classics, all of which slightly – or not so slightly – bend the rules of science, physics and common sense. Obvious examples of these much-loved thrill rides are Hard Target (1993), Broken Arrow (1996) – of which I wrote lovingly in the Travolta piece – and Face/Off (1997), but I have always been particularly partial to Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).

If one were to believe the critics – but then, who in their right mind would? – M:I-2 is the least liked entry in the series. Again, I think the second film is actually my favorite, but it also occurred to me that its storyline is eerily apt for current times and, unfortunately, doesn’t exactly make me forget about my troubles.

The MacGuffin in M:I-2 is a deadly virus and its antidote, poetically named Chimera and Bellerophon. Although created in a lab and not accidentally triggered by frying up a bat, the highly infectious disease evokes strong association with our current real-life nemesis – the Corona bug.

M:I-2’s main villain Sean Ambrose – a show-stealing performance by the criminally under-hired Dougray Scott – plots to unleash Chimera on earth’s entire population, in order to get rich off selling the cure to those who are infected. Life imitates art and vice versa – whoever controls the virus potentially controls everything else, too.

Disclaimer: I am obviously not suggesting that the spread of COVID-19 is some kind of sinister plot for world domination – I am not a complete lunatic – but one has to appreciate the parallels and possibilities.

Enfin – back to the film. Tom Cruise’s James-Bond-On-Steroids Ethan Hunt is in very good hands with Woo. The amped-up spy thrives on the director’s kinetic style, and all of Woo’s trademark elements are there for us fans to geek out over. Every die-hard John Woo devotee knows and loves the filmmaker’s so-called “gun ballet” – his method of choreographing a shootout that makes it look and feel like an operatic dance performance. In M:I-2, the director took this unique take on Action one step further – he actually designed a sequence wherein two supercars tango and swirl their way towards the edge of a cliff:

And let’s not forget the most recognizable of Woo’s traits – doves. The director has said that he uses the birds as a symbol for a character’s soul being saved, and does so in virtually every film he directs. In M:I-2’s climactic bunker battle, the winged creatures appear to be omnipresent indeed. Entire flocks add visual flair to already exhilarating action sequences, and a single white dove accompanies Hunt while he disposes of the villain’s henchmen. Pure joy.

The aforementioned Dougray Scott isn’t the only exciting addition to the Impossible Missions fold. For he second installment, the filmmakers made the brilliant decision to cast Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hunt’s handler. Although altogether onscreen for mere minutes, Hopkins nonetheless makes perfect sense as the one in charge. Albeit somewhat ironically, as the part was originally intended for fellow Sir Ian McKellen, and Hopkins chose to remain uncredited for his performance. To add insult to injury –Sir Anthony sadly never returned to the franchise.

The screenplay for M:I-2 has many fathers, but Cruise-Consigliere Robert Towne eventually took principal writing credit. The second film in the series has some of the most delightfully quotable dialogue – Hopkins and Scott in particular fire off many piercingly cynical one-liners – although more than two decades later, some of it does sound increasingly misogynistic. It is difficult to determine which lines exactly are Towne’s, but considering the position of women in a lot of his other work, I suspect the writer is responsible for zingers like this:

Sean Ambrose
You know women, mate. Like monkeys, they are – won't let go of one branch until they've got hold of the next.

Or, when Hunt and Hopkins’ character Mission Commander Swanbeck are discussing whether or not a female recruit is fit to join the IMF team:

Ethan Hunt
No. She's got no training for this kind of thing.

Mission Commander Swanbeck
What? To go to bed with a man and lie to him? She's a woman – she's got all the training she needs.

I am perfectly able to interpret these exchanges as something the characters in this particular story would say – and even have a chuckle over the outrageousness of such remarks – but I can imagine these days Scott and Hopkins might not feel so comfortable with it anymore.

Much of the pleasure I find in M:I-2, lies in the electrifying score Hans Zimmer wrote for the film. I professed my love for the German composer in blogs many times before, but M:I-2 definitively holds one of my all-time favorite Zimmer compositions. As should be the case with all great film music, the soundtrack over the scene in question mimics and amplifies what happens on the screen and the result is nothing short of spectacular:

Cruise and Woo allegedly clashed over the final cut of M:I-2, and the director must have known he could not win that fight. To date, Woo is the only director who was not asked to direct another Mission. The resentment must have been deep-rooted, considering that M:I-2 was not only the most profitable of the first three installments, it outgrossed every single theatrical release of the year 2000.

Woo made two more films in Hollywood – the financially disappointing Windtalkers (2002) and Paycheck (2003) – and appears to have temporarily “retreated” to his native China for now. I have yet to see his more recent output, but as The Middle Kingdom is quickly overtaking The U.S. as the largest film economy in the world, this move makes perfect sense. I can’t help but miss him though. We need more doves and dancing cars in Hollywood.

#thescreenaddict
#film
#movies
#contentrecommendation
#celebrateart
#nobodyknowsanything

Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict