Task 2.1 Mission Impossible 2

Task 2.1 Mission Impossible 2 Textual Analysis

Mission Impossible 2 was made in 2000 and was directed by John Woo. It starred Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott and Thandie Newton. It is about a secret agent, Ethan Hunt, being sent on a mission to destroy a genetically modified disease called Chimera. However, a group of international terrorists also seek the disease so it is a race against time for Ethan to find and destroy the disease.






The opening sequence of Mission Impossible 2 begins with an establishing shot of the surroundings. This appears to be a canyon of some sort. This shows the scale of the person in comparison to the surroundings, as he is very small. This connotes that the protagonist has a large challenge ahead of him and that he is in danger. The camera zooms into him from the establishing shot which changes the focus of the viewer from the surroundings to the character. This increases his importance. When he leaps on to the ledge, slow motion is used to increase the tension and show the danger of the fall. Following this, point of view shots from a bird’s eye view were used, whilst the diegetic sound of an eagle was heard. The eagle connotes danger because they are predators and by watching Tom Cruise it foreshadows that his character is under threat. The point of view shots switch from the eagle to the helicopter. The fact that this transition was seamless connotes that the character is always being watched. It also shows to the viewer that the helicopter may also be a threat and this is reinforced with the high-angle point of view shot circling the character.

Diegetic music is played when he is climbing. This music is contrapuntal as it is a happy song, yet he is in a dangerous situation. This gives the viewer confidence in his ability to escape danger. When he is hanging, the camera angle is high, emphasizing the height of the canyon and also that he is not in control. When he jumps to the other ledge the music stops, and then resumes louder. This can show that he gets stronger with challenges and danger.

The people in the helicopter wear basic black suits. This intertextuality is representative of agencies in movies. When listening through the sunglasses, the camera is an extreme close up to the sunglasses. This is done to show that the sound and picture is coming from the sunglasses, as this is something uncommon to the audience. When the helicopter arrives, there is non-diegetic music playing. This is a suspenseful soundtrack that changes the mood from a happier to a more serious scene. This shows the transition from his holiday to his work.

The title sequence shows a fuse, which could represent that Tom Cruise is in a race against time to do the job he is set. The title also has a steel texture to it, which can represent the strength and resilience of him. There is a lot of overlaying sound in the title sequence, which may foreshadow that there will be a lot of action and danger in the film.