In this episode of Rewind Classic Movies, we head back to the year 2000 - a time of Napster, low-rise jeans, and blockbuster action movies - to revisit Mission: Impossible 2.

Directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, the sequel took the sleek espionage thriller of the original film and transformed it into a full-blown slow-motion action spectacle. Doves, motorcycle duels, rock climbing without ropes, and a villainous bio-weapon plot… it’s all here.

We talk about:

• How John Woo’s signature style reshaped the franchise

* Slow Motion, Doves, More Slow Motion and More Doves

• The famous rock-climbing opening and that exploding sunglasses message

• Tom Cruise’s long-haired, rock-and-roll Ethan Hunt

• Thandiwe Newton’s role as Nyah and the lightning-fast romance

• Whether the movie still works today or feels like pure early-2000s excess

* And why are there so many f&*^%$$ masks??!

Plus the usual tangents, nostalgia, and debate about whether this sequel helped build the modern Mission: Impossible franchise… or nearly derailed it.

If you grew up in the DVD era, there’s a good chance this film was part of it.

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