Mission: Impossible II
No matter how you look at it, Mission: Impossible II is the weakest entry in the franchise by a mile. That's not to say there isn't material to enjoy, but the film has aged poorly. It came out in May of 2000, and the film made a point to aim itself at the MTV crowd, with a "hard rock" soundtrack and Metallica song to boot. It's a weird fucking movie to say the least. How then, was it the highest domestically grossing film of the series for 18 years?
After his one-two punch of Mission: Impossible and Jerry Maguire in 1996, Tom disappeared from the screen for 3 years as he filmed Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, both of which came out in 1999. He took a hard left from Tom Cruise: Movie Star to Tom Cruise: Actor, so audiences were ready to see the movie star in a crowd pleaser.
What's really interesting is that Tom seemed to sense that. He liked to push and challenge his audience, but he also wants to reward them and entertain them as well. So he knew this action sequel was the perfect opportunity for a hit.
Spoilers for Mission: Impossible II to follow.
As a producer on all the films, Tom decided he wanted each entry to have a unique feel, so he chose iconic action director John Woo (Face/Off, The Killer) to helm this installment. Honestly, as a John Woo movie, Mission: Impossible II is pretty fun. Woo is an over the top kind of guy, big on melodrama and doves and an action hero with a gun in both hands. Normally, that would be enough for me. Unfortunately, the movie takes way too long (and moves way too slow) setting things up that by the time the action gets going in the final act you're almost too bored to care. It's a frustrating watch, because if you just take this movie for what it is, you can enjoy a very silly action flick of its time, but even then it just does everything it can to bore you, like the goal of the film is to put you to sleep.
But what really makes this a bizarre affair is just how game Cruise is for everything. It's not surprising really, the dude commits to whatever project he is in. It's just he's at peak Movie Star at this point in his career, so to see him in a full blown action film saying things like "We just rolled up a snowball and tossed it into Hell. Now let's see what chance it has." is a truly something else.
But again, Cruise fully commits, and honestly, he fits Woo's style pretty well! He shoots fast, he rides motorcycles, and he wears sunglasses. "Perfect!" said audiences. The movie had an extended opening over Memorial Day weekend in 2000 and ended its first week with $91 million domestically, just over half of what the first made in its entire run. Critics hated it but audiences ate it up, ultimately grossing $215 million in North America and $546 million worldwide. It would stand as the highest grossing entry in North America for the next 18 years. A fact that's insane when you realize that the franchise skyrockets in quality from here. But the timing was perfect, it had been 4 years since the last installment came out, and the last two films Cruise had made were a little too intense for mainstream audiences, and they were ready to see him in something easy to swallow.
It would be another 6 years before Mission: Impossible III came out. In between Cruise worked with Cameron Crowe (again), Michael Mann, Edward Zwick and Steven Spielberg twice. This guy was on a roll, and it was expected that M:I III would be Tom's next BIG movie.
But that's for next time, ya goofs.