I love [Mission Impossible II](/reviews/mission:_impossible_2___2000___is_the_best_mission:_impossible). In my opinion [John Woo]() directed an action masterpiece with that film. But unfortunately we live in the world where critics have no appreciation for good action. Come on, Oscars for stunts are just now started to be considered. So... in an unfortunate set of events MI2 was a critical failure. Too dissimilar to what [Bryan De Palma]() did on the first picture, they said. [J.J. Abrams]() with his feature film directorial debut decided to fix everything, while still making a movie that action fans would enjoy. How?

Well, he decided to do what he is good at: Make a movie that feels like [Steven Spielberg]() meets [Michael Bay](). We have layers of tension that create layers of action all stacked up on each other - Michael Bay. We have emotionally satisfying core to the story - Spielberg. We have shaky camera and directing that feels like it is on fucking cocaine - Bay. We have [Tom Cruise]() working in an [agency that goes against him](/reviews/Minority_Report) Spielberg. We have intense shite - Bay. We have very well choreographed camera ballet - Spielberg.

Abrams ( being one of the writers on Bay's [Armageddon](/reviews/armageddon_is..._fuck__i_love_michael_bay) ) understands how to write a Michael Bay movie. But he is also just a very good writer on his own. So the script, even though is full of absolutely bombastic energy, is also quite water-tight. He even knows that *Rabbit's Foot* ( the film's [MacGuffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin) ) is just a MacGuffin.

But here is something that people might not have expected from a followup to John Woo film. Something that tricks people into perceiving the movie as a higher form of art. Something that saved the franchise.

Obviously I'm about to venture into one of my infamous ass-born film-speculations, so take my theory with a grain of salt.

MI2 had 2 interesting actors attached to the film: [Brendan Gleeson]() who a year later appeared in Spielberg's [AI](/reviews/a.i._artificial_intelligence_is_the_best_film_ever) ( which originally was a [Stanley Kubrick]() production ), and [Rade Šerbedžija]() who appeared in Stanley Kubrick's [Eyes Wide Shut]() alongside Tom Cruise a year earlier. Same year Tom Cruise also appeared in another critically acclaimed film, called [Magnolia](/reviews/magnolia_1999_is_paul_thomas_anderson_asking_you_to_respect_the_kids) directed by [Paul Thomas Anderson](). In that film Tom Cruise has an extensive scene with [Philip Seymour Hoffman]() ( one of PTA's frequent collaborators ).

J.J.'s wisdom was to cast Philip Seymour Hoffman as the main villain of the movie, drawing very strong associations between this movie and the work of Paul Thomas Anderson. And the way J.J. shoots the film, the camera ballet, is a technique that is clearly visible in early films of PTA like *Magnolia*.

In a way, J.J. Abrams was able to outsmart the critics. He made what was basically a Michael Bay movie. Which if you know stylistically is not to dissimilar from John Woo. He managed to pack the film full of Hong-Kong cinema references: *Hard Boiled*'s caged birds, *Who am I*'s building slide, etc... While tricking the critics into thinking about this movie similarly to how they think about Paul Thomas Anderson masterpieces. Which in turn saved the franchise.

Fucking genius. 

**Happy Hacking!!!**