MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II

 

TWO STARS - Shallow

 

 

       The second installment of the film version of “Mission Impossible” misses both the complexity and the intrigue of the genre. 

       Though there is a villain of monstrous indifference to the evil he is perpetrating and therefore a clear and compelling need for someone to do the impossible and stop him, the well-developed deception that defines the “Mission Impossible” series is missing.  In its place is an action film with impressive stunts which are so physically impossible as to redefine the meaning of Mission Impossible, to Mission Implausible.

       The struggle between good and evil is embodied in two Mission Impossible operatives.  The first, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), is an opportunist who betrays the MI organization for financial gain. 

       The second is the amazing Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).  Hunt is a good guy of such confidence and acumen that he can take out scores of bad people who are shooting at him with machine guns while he has only a pistol in his hand.

       The plot is a common one in this day of paranoia about the mad scientists who could use genetic engineering to destroy life.  In this instance, a greedy pharmaceutical magnate has hired two such scientists to create both a deadly virus and an expensive cure with hopes of creating a situation in which he can both infect the human race and then cure it, for a handsome fee.

       When this magnate purposely infects one of the scientists and lets him die just to test the viability of his plan, the other scientist infects himself in order to carry both the virus and the cure to Mission Impossible headquarters.

       This act of self-sacrifice proves to be useless when the corrupt Ambrose poses as Hunt and ingeniously stages a plane crash to look like an accident, killing the scientist and stealing his briefcase.

       What Ambrose does not realize is that the scientist himself is the carrier of the virus.

       This mistake sets up the possibility for Hunt to foil his plan.

       Though the obvious spiritual and social message of the film is that evil people are willing to sacrifice the lives of others just to get money, the secondary message is that self-sacrifice is needed if we are to combat such evil.

       This second message comes in the heroic acts of a beautiful thief who is recruited by Hunt to be a part of the team because she was Ambrose’s former girlfriend.

       Having recognized Ambrose’s deformed soul, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton) had left him several months before.  But now, beyond her attachment to Hunt, she recognizes the necessity of putting herself in danger to help all of humanity.  This makes a clear statement of deep spiritual meaning.

       Though Nyah undoubtedly did not realize the full extent to which she would be asked to go when she chose to get involved, she showed a depth of courage and morality that lifted her from her former life as a thief to a place of self-sacrificing valor.

       Using the latest in internet capability and prosthetic appliances, the film falls into a parody that makes it difficult to take its messages seriously.  An example of this is when the final arrangements are being made for the payoff between the pharmaceutical magnate and the traitor Ambrose:  both have as their right hand men two computer wizards who make the financial exchange through the internet on their laptop computers.

       “Mission Impossible 2” gives a clear message that good people may have to place their lives on the line to stop evil, but it is a shallow example of how such decisions will most probably present themselves to us and a caricature of how we can respond.

              

(words:  609)

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