Not even great directors (Brian DePalma and John Woo) can save ridiculously stupid scripts. Both directors are very stylized, which is the only reason to watch these movies. Unfortunately, someone else (Tom Cruise - Producer) has the upper hand.

In both MI movies, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is chasing after IMF agents gone bad. This was a surprise in the first movie but this time, it is "Mr. Hunts Mission". So it is no surprise here. Hunt is interrupted while on vacation and given a minor mission to recruit "Mission" team members. 2 of which he can pick himself, the third must be a cat burglar(Thandie Newton very sexy and the only reason to see this movie). Hunt finally convinces Newton (sorry, I don't remember her character name) in a scene-parody of the road rally sequence from the James Bond film, "GoldenEye", but here performed without any tension... sexual or speed-enhanced, the scene is rather boring for John Woo (to be read as Cruise pulling strings).

Only when the movie holds true to the original TV show does this movie achieve the greatness that Cruise "should" (my mother's favorite word) imparted. The scene at the Sydney, Aust. horse-race course is worth the price of admission. Every element works! From acting, camera angles, editing, depth of field focus shifts, Close-ups to long shots- the SUSPENSE... the sequence is excellent. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't live up to this.

There are 3 MAJOR problems with the MI movies: 1) IMHO, Tom Cruise grew up wanting to portray Jim Phelps in a movie, but didn't want to wait until he "looked" the part so he killed off Phelps. 2) In the original TV series, the IMF team had to "secretly" infiltrate an organization, retrieve the pertinent information and leave without being detected. So far, in 2 movies, the Public Relations Department would have fits trying to cover up the explosions everywhere Hunt goes. 3) Both movies have involved rogue IMF agents. If this happened to the CIA, there would be investigations galore. The department would be shut down due to the security leaks. Hunt, after all, broke into the most secure, heavily-guarded computer on the planet in MI1!

Final note: I saw both of these films because of the director, not the star and I am unimpressed. But the "paying" public is so there will be more movies. Unfortunately, there are no longer any directors left like Hitchcock and Welles to tell Cruise to "shut the fuck up"!!