Action…adventure…bombs…explosives…suspense…combat… These all describe the intense, edge-of-your seat drama of Mission Impossible II. The film is captivating from the very beginning when a professor thinks he is safely on his way to the US smuggling a harmful disease, Chimera, within his own body with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) or "Dimitri." When the plane passengers are forced to put on oxygen masks and Hunt suddenly pulls off his mask to reveal an imposter, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), your pulse starts to quicken. The villains escape through a hatch in the plane just as it dives through the clouds crashing to the earth below... setting the stage for a true thriller.

Agent Ethan Hunt is sent on a mission to retrieve and destroy the supply of a genetically-created disease held captive by former agent, Sean Ambrose who plans to blackmail the world with this contagious and lethal virus. The researcher is now dead, so no one is sure what exactly the product does or where Ambrose has it hidden. Hunt is directed to assemble a team to find Ambrose and the virus-with the help of a seductive professional thief, Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton), Ambrose's old girlfriend. This complicates matters since Ethan, himself, has already fallen for Nyah's charm and beauty. Nevertheless, Hunt arranges for Nyah to fall back into Ambrose's life. Nyah has a traceable implant within her that takes them into Ambrose's lair and unlocks the secrets of the virus's whereabouts. Then comes the race with time... will Hunt and his team be able to locate and disable the Chimera virus that they have now discovered that kills its victim in 20 hours? Will he be able to get the antidote in time to a victim of this slow, painful disease before that victim does away with his/her own life? How will they be able to do this while avoiding Ambrose and his men? You'll have to watch for yourself.

I must admit I thought the amazing special effects and action and technology were fascinating. The beginning scene captivated me from the start. However, many of you James Bond fans might come out of the theater disappointed... I read several reviews saying it was "boring" and a "snore" and "the chemistry wasn't so great between Hunt and Nyah." I am not an action buff, so I really couldn't say, but I think maybe thedirector John Woo overdid it with some of the "mask changes," and "blowing stuff up." The plot and most of the action is not totally believable and realistic and after one scene I was left with my mouth wide open thinking, "Now, wait a minute -- there is no possible way Hunt could've changed 'faces' in the two minutes that he had." Besides that, I would not recommend the movie to children younger than 13 -- even I thought the plot was a little confusing at first -- you're almost left thinking, "WHOA  -- wait a minute! You lost me there," a few times.

This film definitely earned it's PG-13 rating. It comes from an extreme amount of violence including many people being shot and killed or "blown up" (though usually with little or no blood) or being beaten harshly with fists or feet. We also see several age progression photos of a man infected with the Chimera virus which is very gruesome -- as well as a scene when Ambrose puts a cigar cutter around his cohort Stamp's finger (Richard Roxburgh) and slices the tip off. These scenes as well as other violent scenes I do not think are appropriate for anyone under 11 at the very least. Nyah and Hunt are also very sensuous. After Ethan confronts Nyah as she tried to steal a necklace from a bathroom safe the two (who are fully clothed) hide in a large bathtub with him lying on top of her. After the person leaves, she asks Hunt if he minds is she's on top, he says that's fine, and she straddles him in the tub while she continues working on the safe. Nyah also shows excessive, unnecessary cleavage (it grossed me out) mostly in the first scenes. 

Nyah and Hunt also passionately kiss and the next scene both of them are seen waking up in the same bed. Ethan's boss tells him that Nyah has all the skills as a woman to seduce (he uses less delicate terms than this in the movie) and lie to Ambrose. Also, when Nyah is living with Ambrose, he asks her to change clothes, and the movie insinuates that she calmly stands nude before him. We do not see anything, but we see Ambrose's pleasured expression. Profanity is very moderate but consists of a few extremely ugly phrases, some abuses of deity, and other profanities. My opinion is this wait and rent the movie (if you're just dying to see it) when you have a fast-forward remote in hand. Keep in mind this movie is only meant for adults and mature teenagers. I give it a half smile for an intriguing (though confusing) plot, and amazing special effects.