Mission: Impossible 2 - The Spence Edit

Mission Impossible 2: The Spence Edit certainly does what it sets out to do, the whole film has the mature and less comedic tone of the original version: Like said in other reviews, the new opening credits transition and sequence is great! I loved how it was edited, I acrtually bought MI:2 specifically one for my collection, but also to see it's cheesiness, but I wanted to try the more serious version first and it delivers! I really like what Spence did here and think this fits as a great installment in the series, despite it's uneditable flaws. Only complaint? The cliff climbing scene was so 2000's come oN!! :D Should've kept it in!

But no in all seriousness, great work!

The Spence Edit is the best version of Mission: Impossible II, and one of the best fan edits I’ve ever seen. After I finished watching it, I said, “You cut 22 minutes out of this film? The theatrical cut must have had a lot of filler, because I didn’t even notice anything missing.” That’s a little bit of an exaggeration, of course. There were some bits where I was like, “Oh wow. That part is gone. But that’s a good thing.”

One of my favorite parts about this edit is the opening title sequence. Cutting from the plane exploding to the fuse lighting? Brilliant. And the title sequence itself is edited just like the title sequences in past and future films in the series. It’s so expertly done, and feels much more like a Mission: Impossible film to me than the theatrical cut does.

I think the new score works well and is more consistent with the rest of the series. But I must admit, I do kind of miss the heavy metal score from the theatrical cut in a couple of places. I know it’s over the top and hasn’t aged well. It’s just what I’m used to hearing when I watch the second film. It’s bad, but in a cool way. You know?

I’m sorry to say that even this version of Mission: Impossible II is still the worst in the series, but there’s not much you can do to fix that in the editing room. That being said, taking out as much of the bad stuff as you can really does elevate the overall quality of the film.

The next time I have a Mission: Impossible marathon, I’m going to drop this version into the playlist instead of the theatrical version. Great job!

Kudos to Spence for making this movie feel much closer to Mission Impossible (at least the movie series)! Nice trimming of a few over the top scenes and "John Woo moments". The first half now feels like a proper spy thriller. The last half ends up being a lot of shooting and action but that's rather baked into the thing. My only criticism is that, due to the ambitious re-scoring of the entire project (which is phenomenal), some of the sound design gets lost or has its punch diminished. I listened on reference speakers so it's possible this is less noticeable on other systems. But the ability to enjoy another MI movie without suffering through Limp Bizkit is worth a small sacrifice!

This is a very well made edit, but, after watching it, I have to admit that I'd rather have rewatched John Woo's orginal with all its cheesiness and excesses. While watching Spence's version, while perfectly fine, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a watered down version of something that was intended to be an over-the-top ridiculous action opera. I felt like having a Diet Cheesecake when the entire point is the decadence and richness. None of this is Spence's fault, mind you. I thought I wanted a version of M:I 2 that was more in line with the rest of the franchise, but I was completely wrong. I actually wanted John Woo's outrageous love letter to Tom Cruise's flowing hair and gun ballet, so I have this edit to thank for helping me come to that realization.

MI:2 as you all know is infamous for its intense action scenes, slow-mo, and doves. For me, it is a fun action-pack thrill ride to watch but this day, it hasn't aged well compared to MI: & 3 and to the modern films that we have today which I can agree on. Thankfully, I can say that Spence did a phenomenal job with his editing work on this film. The dramatic slow-mos were reduced and the rescores pulled from the other MI films fit smoothly. Even better is that he even incorporated a new intro. It feels so much closer to MI: and 3 and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in the series. I highly recommend giving this fan edit a watch for those who haven't seen the original for so long.