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New video releases: 'Mission: Impossible 2' one too many
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 9, 2000
NEW RELEASES
[Photo: Paramount Pictures]
Tom Cruise reprises his role as a secret agent in Mission Impossible 2, but this time he's softer around the edges.
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Mission: Impossible 2
(PG-13) Tom Cruise reprises his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt, leaving most of his Impossible Missions Force behind. This practically one-man job concerns a deadly manufactured virus that will be unleashed on the world unless Hunt stops a turncoat agent (Dougray Scott), now a terrorist. Thandie Newton (Beloved) co-stars as the obligatory love interest, a master jewel thief. Directed by John Woo, whose flair for balletic violence is curiously slack.
First impressions: "Mission: Impossible 2 takes longer than five seconds to self-destruct. It slowly erodes anticipation, more concerned with moody spies than mayhem. That is surprising, since this Mission was accepted by Woo, the chief architect of modern movie violence.
"We know his genius lurks somewhere in this movie; slow-motion camera swirls, fluttering birds and double-fisted guns are his trademarks, widely imitated. Woo directs cautiously, as if still introducing himself to U.S. audiences despite Face/Off and Broken Arrow. Or maybe he has nothing left to say about the poetry of violence after such visual eloquence in his (Hong Kong) classics.
"Cruise returns . . . minus the flinty demeanor he had in Brian De Palma's 1996 original. Ethan is softer around the daredevil edges, more Zen than zing until the final reel. Woo likes his heroes conflicted by morality and romance. This time, Woo's heart fails him."
Second thoughts: A second viewing didn't make the plot or romance more interesting. The fast-forward button on your remote will come in handy.
Rental audience: Fans of Woo's style or Cruise's cheekbones.
Rent it if you enjoy: Mission: Impossible, the TV series or the first film, or James Bond movies starring Timothy Dalton.
Titan A.E.
(PG) Animated, apocalyptic sci-fi about a band of humans seeking asylum after Earth is destroyed. The key to survival is literally in the palm of Cale (voice of Matt Damon), a hotshot spacecraft mechanic whose father devised a plan to save humanity. Drew Barrymore lends her voice to Akima, a no-nonsense pilot drawn in the long tradition of space babes.
Don Bluth's animation studio creates some striking images, including a planet filled with floating hydrogen trees and another encircled by ice rings, adding a mirror effect to the action. Less successful are Bluth's attempts to sell plush toys with two bumbling, Disneyesque sidekicks (voices of Nathan Lane and Janeane Garofalo).
First impressions: "One way an animated film can succeed is by devising a plot that could work as well with live actors as it does with drawings. Titan A.E. does a pretty good job of that, even when the animation gets a bit too Scooby Doo for its sci-fi dilemmas.
"Bluth and his crew keep the action moving at serial speed with close calls at regular intervals. There is a pleasing lack of the techno-babble and sermonizing that bog down many space operas. More brawn than brain, Titan A.E. is a summer-schoolboy's daydream, as definite in its appeal to young boys as Fox's Anastasia (1997) was for young girls.
"The childish aspects of Titan A.E. are at odds with its best doomsday features. It works better as an elaborate Space Ghost episode than the next Muppets-in-space movie. Those moments are fleeting, but jarring. Otherwise, Bluth has made a cool cartoon for teenage viewers who may think they've outgrown them."
Second thoughts: This movie deserved more attention in theaters. Home video could turn it into a minor cult favorite.
Rental audience: Fans of Japanese anime techniques or outer space adventures in general.
Rent it if you enjoy: Heavy Metal, the Macross series, Battlestar Galactica.
DVD
"Donnie Brasco' gets respect
Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
Based on a true story with Tampa Bay connections, this gangster drama was one of the most underrated films of 1997. Now, since The Sopranos has revived interest in such "family matters," Mike Newell's absorbing tale gets the DVD extras it deserves.
Johnny Depp plays the title role, a pseudonym assumed by FBI agent Joseph Pistone while he was infiltrating organized crime in Florida and New York. His entrance is secured by an unwitting midlevel mobster named Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino).
The core of the story isn't a sting operation but paternal feelings Lefty develops for "Donnie" and the agent's conflict of loyalty as the case draws to a close.
The midsection of Donnie Brasco depicts a gambling operation run by the FBI in Miami to collect evidence against the mob 20 years ago. In real life, the minicasino, known as the King's Court, was in Pasco County, on U.S. 19 in Holiday.
Perhaps Newell explains why the locale was changed on the DVD's alternate audio commentary. Certainly, he should have plenty to discuss about working with Depp and Pacino, two of the most perceptive actors working today. An Oscar-nominated script by Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show) offers plenty of dramatic kindling -- charming habits, tragic families, fading dreams -- and the smoldering actors underplay effectively.
The DVD also includes a featurette, Donnie Brasco: Out of the Shadows, on Pistone's career, plus a standard behind-the-scenes film journal. Five scenes deleted from the original theatrical release are presented, each with optional comments by Newell. Another audio track turns down the dialogue, highlighting Patrick Doyle's musical score. It's a beautiful t'ing.
Books on the big screen
Videos worth another look
For 50 years, the National Book Award has been bestowed upon great writers and their works. This year's winners are slated to be announced Wednesday in New York City.
Hollywood has attempted to adapt several past National Book Award honorees, with mixed results. One such project, Cormac McCarthy's Western saga All the Pretty Horses, is due in theaters next month. Another, E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, is tentatively planned for a 2001 release.
Here's a list of National Book Award winners already preserved (or spoiled) on film:
Sophie's Choice -- Meryl Streep won a deserved Oscar as a Holocaust survivor haunted by what she sacrificed to stay alive. Based on William Styron's novel.
The Fixer -- Bernard Malamud's story of a Jewish handyman falsely accused of murder is a testament to religious faith under pressure. Alan Bates is moving in the title role.
The Man With the Golden Arm -- Nelson Algren's story of heroin addiction features one of Frank Sinatra's best performances.
From Here to Eternity -- Passion and prejudice at Pearl Harbor on the eve of infamy. Sinatra and Donna Reed earned Oscars. Based on James Jones' book.
Ten North Frederick -- Overwrought soap opera from novelist John O'Hara, starring Gary Cooper as a politician cheating on his wife (Geraldine Fitzgerald) with a younger woman (Suzy Parker).
To Kill a Mockingbird -- Gregory Peck's role as Atticus Finch, compassionate lawyer and father, won him a best actor Academy Award. Director Robert Mulligan perfectly conveyed the Deep South textures of Harper Lee's book.
The Color Purple -- Steven Spielberg glossed over some harsh elements of Alice Walker's novel, but a vivid portrait of an emerging African-American woman (Whoopi Goldberg) remains.
Paris Trout -- The most obscure selection on the list, with Dennis Hopper playing an abrasive bigot, wife abuser and loan shark. His murder of an African-American girl becomes a sharp indictment of racism, based on Pete Dexter's book.
Dog Soldiers -- The title of Robert Stone's book was changed for the movies to Who'll Stop the Rain. Nick Nolte is superb as a Vietnam War veteran involved with heroin smuggling. One of the most unjustly overlooked films of the 1970s.
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