Cruise woos fans with ``Mission'' sequel
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES, May 29 (Reuters) - Mission impossible? Not for Tom Cruise.
The superstar actor kicked up a storm at the North American box office as his ``Mission: Impossible 2'' sold $92.8 millionworth of tickets in its first six days of release, according to studio estimates issued Monday.
Hong Kong director John Woo's stylish sequel is outpacing the 1996 original, which went on to gross $181 million at the
domestic box office and $465 million worldwide. It took 11 days to pass $100 million domestically.
The new film should reach $100 million on Tuesday or Wednesday, its 7th or 8th day of release, said Wayne Lewellen,
president of distribution at Paramount Pictures. He predicted it would end up north of $200 million domestically.
Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA - news), released the film in a record 3,653 theaters across the United States
and Canada.
``M:I-2'' combined with a strong slate of holdovers to propel the Memorial Day holiday weekend to a record four-day haul of
$174.7 million for the top 12 films, surpassing the 1997 benchmark of $137.7 million. That year, the big movie was Steven
Spielberg's ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' whose $90.2 million opening is a record for any four-day period.
From Friday to Memorial Day Monday, the estimated four-day gross for ``M:I-2'' stands at $71.8 million, No. 2 behind ``Lost
World.''
The four-day sum for the original ``Mission,'' also a Memorial Day release, was $56.8 million, while its six-day haul was $74.9
million. Comparing the ``Mission'' movies on a three-day basis, the first one pulled in $45.4 million, while the sequel has an
estimated $57.8 million, No. 3 on the all-time list.
Paramount's Lewellen said ``M:I-2'' was playing strongly across all demographics and regions, and word-of-mouth was also
benefiting business.
``It's a better movie than the first one,'' he said, alluding to complaints that the plot on the original was incomprehensible.
In the sequel, Cruise reprises his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt. He travels to Australia to save the world from a deadly virus
and to show off his newly acquired martial arts skills. Thandie Newton plays Cruise's love interest, and Anthony Hopkins lands
an unbilled cameo as Cruise's boss.
In addition to starring, Cruise also produced both movies with his business partner Paula Wagner. He was paid $70 million in
fees and bonuses for the first movie, according to a news report quoting Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone.
``M:I-2'' was not the only the only new release in the top 10. ``Shanghai Noon,'' a comedy Western starring Hong Kong action
hero Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, opened at No. 3 with a four-day haul of $19.5 million.
In between was last weekend's champion ``Dinosaur,'' which pulled in $33.5 million, taking the 11-day tally for the computer
animated flick to $81.9 million. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - news) released both ``Shanghai Noon'' and ``Dinosaur.''
The DreamWorks SKG pair of ``Gladiator'' and ``Road Trip'' rounded out the top five with $17.3 million and $14.0 million,
respectively. Their totals are $127.2 million after 25 days and $35.8 million after 11 days.
At the other end of the popularity scale, John Travolta's sci-fi picture ``Battlefield Earth'' solidified its status as the first major
flop of the summer movie season. It tumbled out of the top 10 in its third week of release with just $1.0 million for the four
days. After 18 days in release, it has pulled in about $20.3 million, having cost upwards of $70 million to make. The film was
released domestically by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news).
The top 10 movies at the box office
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the four-day Memorial
Day holiday weekend, according to studio estimates collected Monday by Reuters. Final data will be issued Tuesday. .
1 (+) Mission: Impossible 2 .. $71.8 million
2 (1) Dinosaur .......... $33.5 million
3 (+) Shanghai Noon ............... $19.5 million
4 (2) Gladiator .............. $17.3 million
5 (3) Road Trip ....... ...... $14.0 million
6 (7) Small Time Crooks ...... $3.9 million
7 (5) Frequency .............. $3.8 million
8 (4) U-571 .................. $3.2 million
9 (8) Center Stage ........... $2.8 million
10 (9) Where the Heart Is ..... $2.0 million
NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis. + - new release.
``Mission: Impossible 2'' is released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
``Dinosaur'' is released by Walt Disney Pictures, and ''Shanghai Noon'' by Touchstone Pictures, both units of Walt Disney Co.
(NYSE:DIS - news).
``Gladiator,'' ``Road Trip'' and ``Small Time Crooks'' are released by DreamWorks SKG, which is privately held.
``Frequency'' is released by New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news).
``U-571'' is released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd. (Toronto:VO.TO - news).
``Center Stage'' is released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. (6758.T).
``Where the Heart Is'' is released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. (NYSE:FOX - news).
United States. Magnolia was advertised as some kind of art picture so that
means the masses stay home and play video games. The creation of MI:2 is
interesting because the first one was so universally hated because of its
socalled confusing plot and the fact that the voice on the recorder turned out
to be the main villain which violated the whole point of the movie and the tv
series. However, MI:1 made about $180 million so eff quality, that amount of
dough means let's try again and make it better. Well, this new mission is one
that I don't necessarily believe that everyone should accept. Mission
Impossible 2 is not the great action film of the year as it was
advertised. This new movie is somewhat better than the first since it is
more focused and it does not try to fool the audience by having crazy heel turns
by the good guys. All you get is about 5 or so rip off the mask and aha
moments. The plot is pretty concise by the villain played by Dougray Scott
wanting to get his hands on a deadly virus so that he can become rich by selling
the antidote to the infected driving the stock price up. I guess he never
realized that if you succeeded in doing something like that you would either be
assassinated or arrested before you could spend your first $100. I have
never understood where these meglomaniacal villains are going to spend their
money they have stolen. Scott can't figure out why Cruise is constantly
tickling his ass throughout the movie. You try to blackmail the world,
that tends to piss off the IMF. Cruise's Ethan Hunt character cannot catch
the villain alone, he needs a hot little chickie played by Thandie
(Beloved) Newton to do most of the dirty work by stealing digital video tapes,
stealing deadly viruses, and stealing the heart of Dougray so that Cruise can
eventually try out his newly acquired judo skills. The problem is that
MI:2 takes about an hour to really get going. The whole first part pretty
much focuses on Newton infiltrating the evil lair and Cruise watching her back
and having sex with her every once in a while. The first part tries to
have more suspensful scenes than action ones. There is a bit on a pier as
Newton confronts Scott and then the big bit at a race track where Hunt and
Newton try to out manuever Scott before he can find out what 
is
going on. These scenes are okay, but the audience can become a bit
restless during these scenes. However, an hour into the film, Cruise
decides to break out the patented 2 fisted John Woo gun battle scenes and a
remake of Hunt being lowered down on a wire to secretly infiltrate the
complex. The first movie was a slow very nerve racking scene that was one
of the reasons it made so much money. This time Cruise is dropped real
fast because he has very limited time to invade the area. But by the time
this comes along, you are so bored you just sit there and go ho hum. Also,
if you are familiar with the director, John Woo's style, this part is no
different than anything you have seen in Face/Off or Woo's best movie, Hard
Boiled. Lots of breaking glass and people flipping in the air in
slow motion. It's okay but nothing too innovative. The big action
sequence is pretty good wth the motorcycle chase but is shot like Cruise and his
chasers are on hover bikes they fly around so much. This is very exciting
and almost saves the picture. And for those who are curious, the John Woo
doves do show up to pester everybody. Ving Rhames returns from the first
movie as the computer expert and must have worked maybe a week on this movie
since he is very underused, He pretty much plays the same character he
always plays when he plays a sidekick. See Entrapment for comparisons. He
has one big scene where he tries to get away from a bomb, but it is not that
great. Anthony Hopkins plays the voice and the mission giver in the
movie. He has about 2 scenes on camera and the voice over when giving
Ethan Hunt is mission assignment. His best line is in the preview when he
says that this isn't mission difficult, but mission impossible, so difficult
should be a walk in the park. I want to give this movie a bad review, but
it is not that bad. If it had at least one big action sequence in
the first hour or 45 minutes, I could have felt better about the film. The
ending is pretty much cliched but adequate for what it wants to do. The
movie also has plot holes that would kill the movie if more obvious. Just
accept it. Ethan Hunt is a spy and has been trained to do everything and a
Thandie Newton looks very believable as a world reknown thief. She doesn't
stick out at all or draws attention to herself ast she walks in tight black
frilly dresses that show her entire legs. Cutting off the fingertip of
your right hand man will make him trust you all the more. And if you want
to impersonate a person all you have to do is have some great makeup and a
little voice analyzer taped to your throat and you will not only sound like the
person
but be their exact height. If you are 1 foot away from a bomb that
is about to blow up in 5 seconds, you will have time to run away before getting
killed. And if you fight or run in slow motion you can see the
fists, kicks, and bullets in time to dodge them. If you are a crazy
madman, you will automatically be funded with millions of dollars to finance
your headquarters and all of your electronic equipment to scan any people
approaching your complex with bugs. When you are filming a movie and your
star says "yeah, I can climb that 2000 foot mountain side with little
protection since I do it all the time" you just say sure no problem, roll
it. CGI masks look so much better on film than just regular pull away
masks. Thank goodness the bad guys had motorcylces for Hunt to ride since
it would have been his ass if he had to do that whole bit at the end on
foot. Oh, and Hopkins gives Cruise the option to accept or not accept the
mission, and Cruise accepts even though he is on vacation. I guess there
would not have been a movie if he had chosen "B" as his final
answer. Final Review: 2 1/2 stars out of 5; 6 out of 10; C+; thumbs
up. I was going to say thumbs down, but it is okay if you take it as a
whole and not in parts.
Making
$33.5 million in your second week is major staying power so the word of mouth on
this movie is pretty strong and that is a bit surprising. Like MI:2, I
came out of this movie not liking it a whole lot. I was
disappointed. Let me start with the stuff that is good, and then I will go
into what went wrong with this ambitious picture. The obvious thing that
worked is the animation. The dinosaurs, especially the lemurs are very
well animated. It does not look as real as a Jurassic Park or even a
Discovery Channel dinosaur special, but it does look great. Since the
dinos and other animals talk, the animation of the beasts sticks out and takes
away from any realistic feel you might get. However, the backgrounds are
all made up of composites of different areas of the world to create one
image. The Disney guys would take one part from Australia and one part
from some African jungle and make one image
and it worked. You really can't tell when they do that. The initial
plot of a dino egg being transported across the land to a pack of lemurs to be
raised as their own ala Tarzan and Jungle Book. Just as you think they
were going to do the why am I not like you bit, all Hades breaks loose as
meteors bombard the Earth and destroys much of the land the creatures
live. The movie then becomes a quest for a sanctuary that may have
survived the onslaught. This catastrophe occurs about 25 minutes in and is
very well done. The movie could have ended there and even though it would
have been a downer, it still would have been cool. Up to this point the
movie was great. It was funny and cute and scatological. You can ask
for more, but that is sufficient. Unfortunately Disney was budgeted and
contracted to make an 85 minute movie so there was a lot of time to fill.
And what they did to fill that time was not very successful. For the next
40 minutes it is a quest through the desert trying to find water and avoid
carnotaurs who are the defacto T-Rexes of the movie. The trek is very slow and
somewhat boring and the backgrounds that were so spectacular when the movie
started just becomes the backlot of the Tatooine set in Star Wars. The
characters keep complaining about the line of dinosaurs moviing too
quickly and to slow down, not realizing that if they did slow down they would
die 
anyway
because of the heat or the other carnivorous dinos also trying to survive.
Della Reese and Joan Plowright play 2 of the dinosaurs that complain the most
because of their age they cannot keep up. D.B. Sweeny plays the lost
dinosaur raised by lemurs who tries to make sure everyone survives to the next
spot of water or land. Samuel Wright who played the crab in Little Mermaid
plays the voice of the villain in Dinosaur. He is known as Kron and is
somewhat obsessed about finding the lost land of milk and honey. He is
portrayed as being mean and insensitive, but I understood his pain. He was
put in charge of this motley crew of animals and is doing his best to keep
everyone alive, but he realizes that if they travel as fast as the slowest one,
they will all die. However, he is a bit gruff so he has to be the bad guy
even though there really isn't a villain in this movie. The carnotaurs are
just trying to live like everyone else but they need to eat other dinosaurs to
do that. Natural selection sucks I guess. This quest is all fine and
good, but is a bit too slow to really succeed as dramatic. This movie
could have been masterpiece, but I feel that the making of documentary on the
DVD will be more entertaining than this movie. Final Review: 2 stars
out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10; C-; thumbs down. If you see it, you will
probably feel let down. See the first 25 minutes, go out to the lobby for
about a half hour and then come back or wait for the DVD and just watch the best
parts.
filmed in America and was not dubbed like the other less successful Chan
releases were. I like Chan's fighting style with the way he uses props and
machinery to beat up bad guys. It is always fun to see how he will use a
stick to beat 6 guys coming at him at once. However, I like his Chinese
movie more because the fight scenes are better. Rush Hour was good, but
his battles in that movie are no where near as cool as his classic ones in
Rumlne in the Bronx, Supercop, and First Strike. Looking at the
preview for this movie, I see a lot of little battles with cowboys and Indians,
but I get the feeling that the fights may not be as well choreographed as I
like. I still may check this movie out in the next couple of weeks
though. Owen Wilson keeps showing up in movies, but he still can't get his
name recognized by the general public. If this movie is as successful as
Rush Hour, it might do for Wilson what it did for Chris Tucker. However, I
have not seen Tucker in a movie since RH, so that might not be the best
comparison. Wilson has been good in Anaconda and even the Haunting, and
has a cult following with his work in Bottle Rocket, but he still probably best
known as the guy who got swallowed by the anaconda with his face imprinted from
inside of the snake's belly. It is funny that the second biggest star in
the movie is Lucy Liu from that awful Ally McBeal show. I am not a big fan
of hers, but I do not dislike her. In fact, I like the Asian look in
women, but I don't find Liu all that attractive. I think it is because of
that annoying show she is on that gives me this negative attitude. She
seems to have been practicing her karate in this movie as a preparation for her
role in the upcoming Charlie's Angels with Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and
Bill Murray as Bosley. I do plan to check that flick out. Shanghai
Noon looks to have a pretty good run at the box office. I don't think it
will do Rush Hour money but it should do a lot better than the last 3 Chan
movies released in this country combined. Heck, throw in Jet Li's Black
Mask in that box office total as well. 