The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II. Directed by John Woo from a screenplay by Robert Towne and starring Tom Cruise, Thandiwe Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames, John Polson and Anthony Hopkins, Mission: Impossible II topped the worldwide box office and firmly established the series as a blockbuster franchise.

The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mission-impossible-ii-2000), Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly (https://ew.com/article/2000/06/02/mission-impossible-2-3/), and Dennis Harvey in Variety (https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/mission-impossible-2-2-1200462090/).

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Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in for the next 2000 installment, featuring our pick for a notable debut from a major filmmaker, Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast.