Review - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson
Running Time: 163 minutes
Rating: 4.5/5
Tom Cruise is the last true movie star.
After casually dropping a legacy sequel almost forty years in the making with Top Gun Maverick last year, which, both broke a billion at the box office and shook the awards circuit with rapturous praise; it is no secret that Tom Cruise wants to be and even arguably is, the saviour of the cinema.
The latest of the McQuarrie-led MI’s, Dead Reckoning, doesn’t shy away from the commanding power of Cruise - A Tom Cruise Production slips in as an opening title card. As hyperbolic as that really sounds, there isn’t anyone quite like him. At 61, he rides the lightning, defies gravity and cranks the adrenaline to eleven - all with the damn smile on his face. Tom Cruise was born a movie star and he knows for better or worse, he will die trying (on-screen and off) to keep cinema alive - theatres full, popcorn layered and audiences on the edge of their seat, breathless and stunned. Without Tom, who knows where cinema would be - the age of the big blockbuster movie stars are over and the glitz and glamour are all now in the comfort of our living room. Cinema would be dead, so to speak.
With an absolutely decorated filmography, Tom seems to be at his most comfortable and his very best as Ethan Hunt - the mask-wearing, speed running, charismatic rogue agent, doubling as Cruises’ own embodiment of a true adrenaline junkie. Let’s insert that Rocky / Dolph Lundgren meme here. If he dies, he dies. Though, I’m sure in whatever absolute madness Tom ends up doing later in his career, he’s definitely laughing and smiling all the way through.
Dead Reckoning features Tom & his merry band of IMF rogues (Ving Rhames’ Luther and Simon Pegg’s Benji) in a chase around the world for an elusive key - a key that unlocks the secret and the power of an all-knowing and sentient AI. Yes, you read right, Ethan Hunt is up against a sentient ChatGPT - and you know it isn’t a MI film without your franchise staples of masks, double-crosses and Ethan being disavowed….again.
But that isn’t a bad thing. Familiarity is a good thing - a crowd-pleaser, an expectation of sorts that we are hoping for; when the masks come out, when alliances are tested and honestly, Ethan going face-to-face with his superiors are always chefs kiss peak cinema. As the seventh installment in the franchise, McQuarrie likens this film as a homage to De Palma’s first entry. There are sequences in this film that feel more invested in the espionage thriller of films' past (the opening prologue with the submarine) and McQuarrie reminisces the close-up photography and unusual angles in some shots. It feels different, familiar but all the while, distinctly Mission: Impossible. Undeniably, Dead Reckoning is a runaway train; each set-piece a carriage of mystery box thrills and a shot of adrenaline right to the heart. Every minute is electrifying. Thunderous in sound and stature. This must be seen in the biggest screen possible. That, is cinema.
As much as my opening paragraphs are the Tom Cruise show, it’s hard to forget the extraordinary ensemble brought together. Shot simultaneously with Dead Reckoning Part Two; both films largely feature the same cast within an enclosed narrative. Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny (!!!) return from previous installments, while Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales & Shea Whigham round out the new additions and regulars going forward. Kirby, Klementieff and Atwell all hold their own, respectively, in some of the films most spectacular sequences ranging from a claustrophobic alley-way fight, a tense interrogation scene and a heart-wrenching Uncharted-esque trek across carriages of on doomed train. Morales is fascinating as Gabriel, albeit a little bit under-developed as a ghost of Ethan’s past, a formidable enemy, while charismatic and intimidating, seems a bit one-note - but here’s to hoping Part Two shows more..
Dead Reckoning is a runaway train; each set-piece a carriage of mystery box thrills and a shot of adrenaline right to the heart. Every minute is electrifying. Thunderous in sound and stature. This must be seen in the biggest screen possible. That, is cinema.
Where Dead Reckoning falters, is not in its entertainment value and / or narrative, maybe it’s because it had to follow Fallout - which is arguably, one of the greatest action blockbusters in cinema (duh). The film’s first half builds upon the espionage thriller themes and tension before exploding into back-to-back set pieces - which, I have to say, the commercials unbelievably hyped up the base jump (which is AMAZING in IMAX) the best sequence was carefully hidden in the marketing and is a fantastic surprise in the climax. Fallout is a non-stop adrenaline rush that is a stand-alone narrative with some of the most bat-shit crazy stunt work captured on film - Dead Reckoning, while still as crazy - definitely feels like the setup to the insanity that hopefully Part Two will bring upon its release. The ensemble is fantastic and they all have plenty to do for each character - except for Rebecca Ferguson. While Atwell stepped up as the leading lady, I feel that the setup for Fergusons’ badass Ilsa was sort of…forgotten? There’s unfinished business there and whether it is intentional or not, again, I can’t fault a part one for not having all the answers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but maybe I’ll reconsider once the second is out next year.
Listen, Fallout was lightning in a bottle - a thrill ride that one-ups each and every scene before it. Let’s make it clear, I don’t believe McQ & Cruise set out to purposely do another Fallout - they set out to make another Mission: Impossible and that mission, clearly achieved.
Tom Cruise (& co.) cranks the chaos to eleven and on this train, there is no sign of slowing down. Dead Reckoning is a pulse-pounding thriller that is sharp, smooth and cuts razor deep with high-flying set pieces, twists and turns that’ll leave you breathless. There’s more to this ticking bomb and cinema can’t wait for it to go off.
Keep that car running, give me more MI & Cruise or give me death.
