Mission: Impossible II

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Mission: Impossible 2
Image:Missionimp2reg46192.jpg
Directed by John Woo
Produced by Tom Cruise
Paula Wagner
Written by Jag Mundhra
Starring Tom Cruise
Dougray Scott
Thandie Newton
Ving Rhames
Music by Hans Zimmer
Distributed by USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video
Paramount Pictures
Non-USA Theatrical
United International Pictures
Release date(s) May 24, 2000
Language English
Budget $125 million
Preceded by Mission: Impossible
Followed by Mission: Impossible III
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Mission: Impossible II, or M:I-2 as it is also known, is a 2000 film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise, the film's producer. It is a sequel to Brian De Palma's 1996 film Mission: Impossible with Cruise returning as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.

The film finds Hunt teaming up with former partner Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton) and helicopter pilot Billy Baird (John Polson) in order to thwart the plans of former IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). The film also stars Brendan Gleeson, Richard Roxburgh and Anthony Hopkins in an uncredited role as Hunt's overseer Swanbeck.

Contents

[edit] International names

Greater China: 谍中谍, pinyin: Die Zhong Die； Translation: Spy among the spies.

[edit] Plot

The movie's plot involves a virus which is named after the Chimera creature from Greek mythology. Sean Ambrose plans to release the virus and then make money from selling the antidote. Several characters use the mask disguises as in the first Mission Impossible film. The pre-title sequence involves a Boeing 747 seized over the Colorado Rockies where the virus is taken from the scientist bringing it to Atlanta. Hunt is recruited for the mission by helicopter after rock climbing to the top of a cliff. He later goes to Seville to recruit Nyah Nordoff-Hall, and sets up her false arrest so that Sean Ambrose will rescue her. The second half of the film takes place in Sydney with scenes at a race track and later at a research facility which Hunt must break into to take the virus. Nyah injects herself with the virus so that she will still be valuable. The finale involves a long motorcycle chase where Ethan races for the North Head where they have tracked Nyah on the GPS chip, and a final encounter in the beach with Ambrose, who is knocked unconscious after a short fight but reappears again and is shot to death by Ethan. While on the train returning home an undercover agent tells him his next assignment.

The plot of this film heavily borrows from the film Notorious (1946 film), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot of the movie and the scene at the race track bear close resemblances to Notorious. In MI:2, Tom Cruise recruits Thandie Newton to spy on Dougray scott. Both Cruise and Dougray Scott are in love with her and Cruise is ridden with angst for putting her in such a position. The same happens in Notorious, with Cary Grant recruiting Ingrid to spy on the villian who is in love with her. and throughout the movie he is torn for doing that. Cruise and Newton exchange information at a racing track under the villian's eyes and in Notorious movie Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman do the same under similar circumstances.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

Production of the film was troubled and was shut down for several weeks as the script was re-worked. As a result both Dougray Scott and Thandie Newton lost the chance to appear in starring roles in other films. Cruise and Woo had reportedly clashed several times throughout filming over creative differences, but both walked away from it on good terms.

[edit] Box Office

The film was a financial hit and grossed close to $215 million in its domestic American release and approx. $330 million abroad. It is the highest-grossing movie of 2000.

[edit] Box Office Totals

  • Budget - $125,000,000
  • Marketing cost - $37,200,000
  • Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $57,845,297
  • Total Domestic Grosses - $215,409,889
  • Total Overseas Grosses - $330,492,673
  • Total Worldwide Grosses - $545,902,562

[edit] Missing scenes

There have been rumors on the Internet that a lot of footage was cut from the movie. Certainly there are some gaps in the story due to missing dialogue. Here are some ideas from the shooting script that didn't make the final cut, either because they weren't filmed or were filmed and then deleted.

  • Ethan Hunt BASE-jumps off the mountain in Moab in the opening sequence after he has finished climbing it.
  • Nekhorvich explains the "I'm sorry, you're sorry" line as coming from Dr. Strangelove, and that he called Hunt "Dimitri" because he didn't know his real name (implying that Hunt isn't pretending to be someone else, which is why he doesn't speak with a Russian accent). This extended monologue (which might not have been filmed) clarifies the genuine friendship between the two - that Hunt saved Nekhorvich's life - and adds an emotional depth to the scene.
  • Swanbeck goes on to say that there has been an increase in cash in terrorist accounts.
  • Hunt and Stickell read up about McCloy before going to the racetrack. They work out what Chimera is earlier too. The BioCyte video Ambrose shows to McCloy at the racetracks is an internal BioCyte recording that Nekhorvich was carrying on a "battleship grey digital camera" in his satchel to show Hunt once they had safely removed it in Atlanta. As Ambrose is watching the promotional video for BioCyte, he asks Stamp to "take care of the Nekhorvich memory card." As Stamp inquires as to the card's whereabouts, Ambrose makes a bit of a play about the jacket pocket being his right, and not his left as he had originally used. All this play was meant to tell us is that Ambrose knows Nyah is spying on him. This is most likely the reason behind Ambrose pretending to be Hunt and fooling Nyah, whilst the real Hunt (as Nekhorvich) gets information about Ambrose/Chimera from McCloy.
  • Ambrose looks through more than one offer of money. The 37 million pounds is the biggest.
  • The video of Gradski has footage of other victims. Apparently there was an outbreak at Bruny Island. 500 people died. This also explains why McCloy might think he had the virus in the hospital.
  • Ambrose got the video of Gradski from Nekhorvich's briefcase; the Russian planned to use it as evidence to convict McCloy.
  • McCloy's speech in the hospital is longer and includes a funny reference to Viagra. It also points to the fact that BioCyte isn't doing very well and needs Bellerophon.
  • Billy Baird says that Ambrose and McCloy are going around with "different halves of the same dollar bill." It's a nice line that clarifies the problem the two men have.
  • There is another meeting with Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) before Hunt goes to Bear Island. Swanbeck is going to try and close passport control to stop the virus leaving Australia. He knows that Hunt is going to try and rescue Nyah, but he'd rather one person died than millions. He says he wants a sample of Chimera (which explains the line at the end of the film, since Swanbeck didn't know what Chimera was when he first met with Hunt).
  • As there have been no transfers of terrorist money, Hunt knows that Ambrose must be dealing with McCloy; his reason for infiltrating Bear Island.
  • Hunt's entry to Bear Island is more violent. The script makes plain that Hunt is killing the guards, not rendering them unconscious.
  • The revelation of the villain's project is longer:
McCloy offers Ambrose AUD 30 million (all he can afford, he says in the script; not true replies Wallis, but it doesn't matter). Ambrose says what he really wants are stock options. These are the options given to company employees, etc. to enable them to buy shares in the company in the future. These options are currently valued at AUD 31, but Ambrose (in the script) says he will buy them for AUD 50. (The implication is that BioCyte isn't doing so well, so the owners of the options (who do not know about Bellerophon or Chimera) will be willing to sell at the higher price).
When the panic begins over Chimera, people will begin buying Bellerophon and the stock will be worth over $A200 each, prompting people to buy shares in BioCyte. However, this would be too late; Ambrose has the options now and will use the power they afford him to buy 48,000,000 shares... 51% controlling stake of BioCyte. According to the script, Ambrose will borrow the AUD 1.5 billion needed to do this from various sources. All in all, Ambrose stands to make AUD 8 billion (USD 6 billion). McCloy will also be rich, but Ambrose could buy him out. In any case, he would have no say over what Ambrose could do with his company.
It's a risky strategy; if the Chimera plan fails, Ambrose's stock will be worth nothing. He's passing up the opportunity to make a quick 37 million pounds to pull off the biggest heist in history.
  • Stamp is seen hitting Ethan in the jaw, justifying the later comment.
  • The script states clearly that the gun Hunt kicks out of the sand is his own. It does not state where Ambrose got his gun from (though it was probably Hunt's spare gun; he liked to keep two different makes as a psychological backup).
  • In the final briefing Hunt reveals that Bellerophon is only effective against Chimera... and by now Chimera has been fully destroyed. A report on CNN has McCloy under criminal investigation and the value of BioCyte shares plummeting.

Interestingly, the script suggests the title is “IMF 2: Chimera”.

Paramount has not announced any plans for an extended edition or director's cut with the addition of these scenes.

The film was originally rated R (no person under 17 unless accompanied by an adult). To get a PG-13, cuts needed to be made to a neckbreak and a kneecapping. This version was distributed internationally; contrary to some accounts, the UK version, rated 15 (no person under that age), is the cut American version.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Oliver Stone was an early choice to direct.
  • William Goldman worked on an unused story.
  • The mission-briefing sunglasses that are sent to Ethan Hunt after he scales the canyon are modified Oakley Romeos.
  • The knife hovering a quarter of an inch above Cruise's eye was attached to a wire that prevented it from going any lower. Nevertheless, had Cruise moved his head he could have injured his eye. It was Cruise's idea to have the tip of the blade so close to his eyeball; it was originally intended to land somewhere near the eye socket.
  • Tom Cruise fought hard to have Oakley eyewear used in the film. Paramount already had a deal in place with Rayban to use their eyewear in 10 films. Cruise finally won the battle after giving free pairs to several studio executives at Paramount. The executives thought the eyewear had a very cool look as well as being extremely comfortable. A deal was put into place the very next week. In the film Cruise wore both first generation Fives and X-Metal Romeo. The sales for Oakley Eyewear after the film's release went through the roof according to the company.
  • Nicole Kidman suggested Thandie Newton for the main heroine role to her then husband Tom Cruise. She was the first person cast in the film besides Cruise and also the only one whose part was written specifically with her in mind.
  • Production was halted for a period of time so that Cruise could finish his work on Eyes Wide Shut.
  • Dougray Scott dropped out as Wolverine in X-Men in order to finish this movie. Hugh Jackman took over the role.
  • Screenwriter Robert Towne admitted in an interview that he wrote the story to fit the action sequences, which were already developed before he joined in.
  • The initial cut of the film was three and a half hours, which studio executives strongly balked at. The studios cut it down to about two hours, however many holes in the plot formed, which were still present in the final cut of the film.
  • The film was labeled as Doll House when it was sent to theaters in order to avoid theft.
  • Tom Cruise performed over 80% of his own stunt work in the film. Stunt Coordinator Brian Smrz stated that "Every time Tom does another stunt, I get another gray hair".
  • This was the first film that Metallica ever worked on after being strongly opposed to working on movie soundtracks for many years; the year before, James Hetfield contributed uncredited vocals to a song in the soundtrack of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
  • This is the second Tom Cruise film to feature the song "Iko Iko" (played on the opening scene where he is rock climbing); the other film was 1988's Rain Man. Both films were also scored by composer Hans Zimmer.
  • The fictional festivity in Seville mixes the traditional Semana Santa of the city and the Fallas of Valencia. Together falleras and Holy Week nazarenos, it also can be seen people with the white clothes and red handkerchief of Pamplona' Sanfermines. This festival may or may not be a reference to the Orson Welles spy film Mr. Arkadin.
  • The name "Nordhoff-Hall" is a reference to authors Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, who authored the 1932 based-on-a-true-story novel Mutiny on the "Bounty".
  • Climber Ron Kauk was hired as the climbing stunt double for Tom Cruise on the film. But Kauk never ended up doubling Cruise for any climbing. Kauk, in the end only trained Cruise on how to climb properly. Kauk doubled Cruise for only one shot in the film, and not a climbing shot. Kauk stood in for a second-unit shot when Cruise's stuntman Keith Campbell was unavailable. Stunt Coordinator Brian Smrz made sure that Kauk received stunt credit because of how much time and effort he had put in to training Cruise.
  • This is the second time that Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton worked together. The first film they worked together was Interview With the Vampire.
  • Character "John C. McCloy" - name is similar to that of [John J. McCloy][1], a former World Bank President and a member of the Warren Commission.
  • The depicted skyscraper headquarters of BioCyte is Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney.

[edit] Goofs

  • At one point in the movie there is a cameraman clearly visible through Ethan's sunglasses.
  • In the bike chase, when the two main characters go offroad, the tires on the motorcycles change from road tires to dirt tires.

[edit] Music

[edit] Score

Main article: Mission: Impossible II Score

The original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and performed by Lisa Gerrard.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Mission: Impossible II Soundtrack

The Mission: Impossible II Soundtrack includes Limp Bizkit's rendition of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme, "Take a Look Around.

[edit] See also

  • Notorious, an inspiration for part of the plotline in Mission: Impossible II

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Mission: Impossible franchise
Television:Mission: Impossible (original series) · Mission: Impossible (1988 TV series)
Films:Mission: Impossible · Mission: Impossible 2 · Mission: Impossible III
Characters:Jim Phelps · Ethan Hunt · Luther Stickell
Video games:Mission: Impossible (NES) · Mission: Impossible (N64, PS1) · Operation Surma
v • d • e
Films directed by John Woo
Fist to Fist (1973) • The Young Dragons (1974) • The Dragon Tamers (1974) • Princess Chang Ping (1975) • Hand of Death (1975) • Money Crazy (1977) • Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) • Hello, Late Homecomers (1978) • Follow the Star (1978) • From Riches to Rags (1980) • To Hell with the Devil (1981) • Laughing Times (1981) • Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982) • The Time You Need a Friend (1984) • Run Tiger Run (1985) • Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) • A Better Tomorrow (1986) • A Better Tomorrow II (1987) • The Killer (1989) • Tragic Heroes (1989) • Bullet in the Head (1990) • Once a Thief (1991) • Hard Boiled (1992) • Hard Target (1993) • Broken Arrow (1996) • Once a Thief (1996) • Face/Off (1997) • Blackjack (1998) • Mission: Impossible II (2000) • Windtalkers (2002) • Paycheck (2003) • All the Invisible Children (2005) • Red Cliff (2008)
da:Mission: Impossible II

de:Mission: Impossible II es:Misión: Imposible II fr:Mission : Impossible 2 it:Mission: Impossible II lt:Neįmanoma misija 2 nl:Mission: Impossible II ja:ミッション:インポッシブル2 no:Mission: Impossible II pl:Mission: Impossible II pt:Mission: Impossible II sr:Немогућа мисија 2 fi:Vaarallinen tehtävä II sv:Mission: Impossible 2 zh:職業特工隊2

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