Mission: Impossible II

Layers

After seeing Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II, I am quite convinced that John Woo likes masks and identity swapping. M:I-2 is packed with rubber masks, so that about a half-dozen times, a scene must be reinterpreted when you see who was actually in it. There were instances where I had great difficulty believing this device, especially since one character even has a mask of himself for someone else to wear. Of course, this was a far less offensive tactic than Mission: Impossible's constant backstabbing.

Unfortunately, Woo underestimates the audience's ability to understand that characters can act, and should not be confined to showing their true feelings when they should be acting. In a plot move that echoes Notorious, the Thandie Newton character is supposed to pretend to be rekindling her relationship with the Dougray Scott character. Although I imagine she is capable of doing the scene otherwise, Newton shows a constant distaste for Scott, even when he's looking right at her. If John Q. Critic can see that she isn't thrilled to be with him, shouldn't it be doubly obvious to an obsessed ex-boyfriend?

Strength

The biggest disappointment for me was the relegation of Newton's character to damsel in distress. The very beginning of the movie set her up to be tough, clever, and sexy. I don't think it even took fifteen minutes before she had to be rescued, and the character never had an edge again. I would've liked to see her save Ethan's butt at least once, and to be able to rub his nose in it. I was expecting something more along the lines of Michelle Yeoh's role in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Nitpicking Spoilers!

• Nyah is injected with a tracking device that supposedly emits no signal that can be traced with the usual equipment. This device can be picked up by a satellite, though. In fact, it's just one satellite, which is more disturbing because it rules out anything resembling the triangulation used by regular GPS devices. It also eliminates creating some kind of field which is disturbed by the device, like the theft-prevention devices in stores. Would anyone like to tell me how that pill is supposed to work?
• Ethan put a Hugh mask on to trick Sean. As previously mentioned, he also put an Ethan mask on Hugh. I'm a little surprised that he had a Hugh mask handy. I'm much more surprised that he had a mask of his own face handy. I'm no makeup artist, but doesn't it take some time to apply these things convincingly? Don't they have to be custom molded not just to the face they simulate, but also to the face they cover?