As the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Dead Reckoning Part One feels like it needs to be something grander for its two-part finale. That’s a tough act to follow for director Christopher McQuarrie, considering how mind-blowing his previous MI film, Fallout, upped the ante on how many wild stunts and stylish set pieces can be amassed in a spy adventure. How much more can be done with this saga that transformed a smooth spy TV series into one of the most enticing action movie franchises?
While there’s undoubtedly a more twisty plot present with the IMF saving the world again, it’s mostly business as usual with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the company. There’s another world-ending event and another slew of stunts for Tom Cruise to test the limits of how excitement can be milked from these movies. The good news is that the thrill remains after many films of motorcycle chases, daring fights, and crashing helicopters.
The Bad Guy is AI
There’s a change of pace from the previous films, where it was all about syndicates and nukes. This time it’s a rogue AI that can be controlled with two keys. The sentient program, referred to as The Entity, gains access to the entire world’s intelligence and forms a posse to protect it.
Gabriel (Esai Morales), who treats this entity like some techno-Nostradamus, delights in stealing dangerous MacGuffins and toying with Ethan. As with the best villains, he knows how to stab at the agent’s heart and twist the knife. His motivations and stagings feel like a par-for-the-course antagonist, but he does a tremendous job establishing the stakes in his calculative manner. Even his typical villain moments, like forcing Ethan to choose who lives, carry some exciting tension for how confident and precise Gabriel turns out to be.
It helps that the many missions of Ethan and his gang rely on improvisation. They always set up a plan, which usually goes awry, either with the wild card being thrown in or their mask-making technology breaking. Although it’s never directly cited, it’s the X factor for defeating such a threat.
Getting Too Close
Ethan’s major fault continues to be the bond he forms with others and his failures to push them away. Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) remain behind-the-scenes technicians with the best back-and-forth. Even when Ethan fears their safety amid a botched operation and terminates their partnership, they still return for more. Considering the antagonist can expertly hack anything they can muster this time, they become more quintessential than ever.
Ethan even risks his own life to keep Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) out of this dangerous ordeal, but it’s no good. Whatever disease Luther and Benji got that pushed them toward danger, she also got it. And since she’s an expert assassin, it helps to have someone who can pull a trigger and wield a knife like Ferguson.
The latest addition to Ethan’s band of off-grid agents is Grace (Hayley Atwell). As a quick-thinking thief, she unwittingly gets thrown into the film’s plot of finding the literal keys to the ultimate doomsday weapon. Sometimes she’s willing to work with Ethan; other times, she makes off with MacGuffins for the highest bidder. It all depends on how many dangerous people are close. And there are plenty of parties to be worried about.
Plenty of Villains
Paris (Pom Klementieff) works alongside Gabriel as a mostly-mute assassin who flashes with style. She has such a great screen presence that there’s excellent intimidation when she lingers in the background and terror when she corners Ethan in an alley. She steals nearly scene where she’s present.
Further complicating Ethan’s key-swiping operation is the return of Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby). She pops back onto the scene to mock Ethan and vy for control again, being just enough of a threat to throw a wrench into the mission. And then there are intelligence and officials trying to either work with Ethan or bring him in, depending on whether or not it suits their whims.
More of the Best
Everything that audiences have come to expect and love about Mission Impossible is not only present but still hits hard. Tom Cruise’s elaborate and daring stunts still delight, this time featuring him riding a motorcycle off a high cliff as he descends and parachutes onto a moving train. Though the finale is edited for the grand entrance, the speeding off the cliff is expertly shot, and it’s a genuine thrill to watch another Cruise stunt unfold so beautifully. The cherry on top is how the fight continues on a runaway train, complete with topside duels and a race between cars.
In addition to the hallmarks of Cruise running across rooftops and engaging in close-quarters combat, there’s an intense car chase through the streets of Rome. Even though there was already an absurd high-speed car chase through Rome earlier this year in Fast X, Dead Reckoning manages to be just as silly. This is due mainly to the bulk of the chase featuring Cruise and Atwell in a Fiat with handcuffs, leading to some driving as ridiculous as it is intense. It’s also sure to draw some comparisons to Lupin the Third, a fitting homage if intended.
And there’s no shortage of twists and double-crosses, per the franchise’s expectations. Deception through masks, camera hacking, and AI voices keep the audience on their toes so they’re not bored between the sequences of Cruise speeding around Rome and Cruise dashing through the passages of Venice. You’re always left guessing, especially since The Entity remains so mysterious with its intent.
Conclusion:
Dead Reckoning Part One is a vigorous dose of action filmmaking at its finest, due in no small part to Cruise and McQuarrie pushing themselves further with each entry. Everything has been cranked up to prevent this saga from stagnating, including the running time that surprisingly breezes by for well over 2.5 hours. The fact that there’s a Part Two arriving next year only sweetens the deal, even if Part One films seem to be the popular sequel format for 2023. Even for falling into that camp, this film sets itself apart by being one of the best action-spy sagas of the 21st century.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is currently playing in theaters everywhere.
Watch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
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