50. Mission: Impossible II (2000) — Countdown to The Final Reckoning

A new episode (the 50th episode! 🥳) of Sound Speed Action is out, and we continue our Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning countdown series — and today we’re covering the standout (for better and worse) of this franchise: Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)!Wow, yeah — the sequel to the first Mission: Impossible is very much its own unique thing. Let’s take the first Mission: Impossible movie — a cerebral, slow-burn, spy action mystery… and for the follow-up, throw that all out the window. Enter director John Woo! We have action dialed up to an 11. Slow motion. Doves! Fireballs! Barrel rolls! Choreographed fighting mixed with WWE moves! Long flowing hair! The full nine is here.This movie is so different. It’s a completely different swing that they went for. Some of it doesn’t work — like the special effects at times that didn’t age well. But overall, the takeaways are mostly positive. It has fantastic, true-to-John-Woo action.If you look at this movie purely through the lens of being a Mission: Impossible movie, you may leave feeling disappointed and that this installment largely missed the mark. But if you look at it purely as a top-tier, over-stylized action movie (think Face/Off — same director), then you’ll absolutely have a blast with this one.Thandie Newton is great. She and Tom Cruise look their smokin’ best in this movie. I think they’re both competing for who has the best flowing hair. Seriously, they look like something out of a Vidal Sassoon shampoo commercial.Dougray Scott makes for an okay villain here, but what’s really crazy is what other gigantic movie opportunity he sacrificed to be in this film… You won’t believe it. It would’ve changed everything for that other franchise.This movie, again, is an enjoyable romp — but it's suuuch a deviation that what it really brings to this franchise is the course correction that follows. We would not have the Mission: Impossible franchise we know today (from the 3rd through 7th installments) — the one that found its voice, style, and identity — without this epic flick!Mission: Impossible 2 is available to stream now on Prime Video and Paramount+. It’s also available to rent and buy on all major platforms. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sohrabsmovieq.substack.com