- Title: USA: AMERICAN PREMIERE OF TOM CRUISE'S LATEST FILM MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2
- Date: 6th May 2000
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 6) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) TOM CRUISE SAYING OF SHOOTING THE ROCK CLIMBING SEQUENCE, Frightening? No, I trained for it. I got to work with, you know, one of the world's legendary climbers, Ron Kauk, and, when I was climbing, we were kind of, he taught me alot and it was fun. Yeah, it was fun! That's why you produce t
- Embargoed: 21st May 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, US AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2WCNJS01CRCMUD1IN5B7FXHOE
- Story Text: Kicking off the official start of the summer movie season, Tom Cruise attended the World Premiere of his sure-fire box office blockbuster "Mission Impossible 2" in Los Angeles.
Although it's technically a sequel to the 1996 summer blockbuster "Mission Impossible," this latest Tom Cruise vehicle has almost nothing to do with the first one in style or substance.
This is largely due to the presence of Hong Kong action film auteur John Woo, whom Cruise, in his role as the film's producer, brought in to take over the director's reigns from Brian DePalma, who directed the first film.
As he did with his Hong Kong classics and such Hollywood fare as "Face Off" and "Broken Arrow," Woo brings his very distinct trademark style to "Mission Impossible 2," including slow motion photography, haunting music and violent yet intricatly choreographed action sequences.
These include a high-octane car chase between Cruise and co-star Thandie Newton, a brutal motorcycle duel with bad guy Dougray Scott, and a nail-biting high altitude rock climbing cliffhanger for which Cruise did most of his own stunts.
The story is neccessarily convoluted, although not nearly as confusing as its predecessor, which was criticized by some for its complicated plotline.
Once again, Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a government operative sent to stop a madman, played by Scottish actor Dougray Scott, from unleashing a deadly virus on the world.
Along the way, Hunt falls for Nyah Hall, a beautiful and mysterious thief played by Newton who holds the key to tracking down the bad guys in their Sydney, Australia corporate stronghold.The role called for Newton to play a few love scenes with her sex symbol leading man.
The only returning cast member besides Cruise is his sidekick and computer expert Luther Stickell, again played by "Pulp Fiction" star Ving Rhames.Anthony Hopkins also has a small cameo in the film as Hunt's boss.
Aside from the opening rock climbing sequence, the majority of the film was shot in Australia, which lately has become a haven of sorts for Hollywood film crews looking to save money.However, in this case, the choice of locations might have been a mistake.
The production was plagued with bad luck from the beginning.
First the crew had to deal with unusually bad weather, including a monsterous hail storm that shut work down for several days.
Then there was a series of script revisions and the sudden replacement of the film's Australian Director of Photography, which led to complaints from an Aussie labor group.
All of the complications reportedly sent the final film well over its initial 80 million dollar budget, but with the summer lacking an alternative for an early runaway box office blockbuster, the film could recoup most of that money in the opening week of release alone.
For his part, Cruise dismisses reports of troubles on the set, saying that making movies is a difficult business that constantly requires changing plans and re-shooting in order to make the movie the best it can be. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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