Tonight on TV: Tom Cruise’s least favorite spy movie

In the mid-90s, Tom Cruise wanted to hit it big as a producer on his first film and get a big franchise for himself. He is aiming for a film adaptation of Mission: Impossible (a spy series broadcast in the 60s and 70s) and entrusting the reins to Brian De Palma. With $457.7 million worldwide, the feature film was the third highest grosser of 1996 at the box office.

Since then, each episode of the saga will have a different director’s touch. So, for the second part, put in a big name in the action of the time after the success of Volte/Face, namely: John Woo. But despite the virtuosity of its staging – an opening scene with Tom Cruise climbing a cliff with his bare hands, characters defying the laws of gravity, slow-motion, pigeons and a very rock-and-roll soundtrack – Mission: Impossible II has fans. Least favorite installment. This is confirmed by its average viewership rating of 2.8 out of 5 on AlloCiné.

Indeed, John Woo’s lyricism dips several times into kitsch in favor of commonplace metaphors (when Ethan and Naya’s eyes meet, their hair blows in the wind while their cars skid, or when the crosshairs disappear, overshadowing the faces of the hero and villain). But above all, the film tries to make its hero the American counterpart of James Bond, with a second degree that does not match him and an awkward sexualization that often flirts with misogyny. A step forward for this franchise, which, moreover, did not end as a cult.

Mission: Impossible II John Woo with Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandivi Newton…

from the age of 10

tonight on TFX at 9:05 p.m.