Mission: Impossible II

'This isn't Mission: Difficult, Mr Hunt,' cautions an incognito Hopkins. No, indeed. What would happen if Ethan Hunt ever choose to decline his assignment? Presumably we'd be left dangling, along with our hero, on some cliff face, while the world went to pot. It might make for a better movie, though, than this elaborately silly exercise in treading water. Screenwriter Towne tries to turn up the heat by teaming Ethan (Cruise) with cat burglar Nyrah (Newton) - setting a thief to catch a thief. Actually the model is closer to Notorious, what with Tom and Thandie getting it on, and her assuming pawn position to cosy up with her ex, renegade agent Ambrose (Scott). But Woo's hysterically hyper visuals and boytoy gimmickry can't camouflage the emptiness of the enterprise. Pumped up and sporting shoulder-length hair, Cruise endures love scenes, bike stunts and a smidgen of chop-socky with the same determination he used to survive Stanley Kubrick.