Your mission, should you choose to embrace it, is to watch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One on the largest possible screen. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in the seventh installment in the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise. In this film, Ethan and his IMF team are on a mission to recover a mysterious key before it falls into the wrong hands. Writer/director/producer Christopher McQuarrie has given this series his all since his uncredited rewrites of Ghost Protocol. He returns to direct the third film in this incredible action spy series and he continues to outdo himself.
Your mission, should you choose to embrace it, is to watch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One on the largest possible screen. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in the seventh installment in the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise. In this film, Ethan and his IMF team are on a mission to recover a mysterious key before it falls into the wrong hands. Writer/director/producer Christopher McQuarrie has given this series his all since his uncredited rewrites of Ghost Protocol. He returns to direct the third film in this incredible action spy series and he continues to outdo himself.
Dead Reckoning Part One is the best action movie of the year. Expect no less from Cruise and McQuarrie, who have worked together on a number of occasions, including ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, two of the best action films of the century. These two are to be reckoned with as they have created another mind-blowing action film with some of the best shot sequences in the series. The opening sequence features a desert sequence that feels like an elevated version of Ghost Protocol’s sandstorm scene. The scene is followed by a dialogue scene that illustrates how this screenplay by McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen enhances any exhibition tipping by having something interesting happening in the background.
Each of McQuarrie’s films felt different. It seems he’s recreating the atmosphere of Brian de Palma’s original 1996 film Mission: Impossible with this film. Much of that tension can be felt, especially in the opening act for the original film, where the characters race to keep up with the looming terror all around them. The film even brings back Ethan’s sleight of hand, Henry Czerny as Kittridge, and a final action sequence in one go. McQuarrie takes everything great about the original film and combines it with the flair he always brought to the series.
The decision to make a film similar to the original film works considering the film’s villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) has ties to Ethan’s past. The film wisely eschews the popular anti-aging trend and uses other avenues to tell this story. The small problem is how undeveloped and often fleeting those flashbacks seem in their brief appearances, even though the events were instrumental in making Ethan the person he is today. The impact these events leave on Ethan is part of what makes his relationship with Gabriel more complex than that of other Mission: Impossible villains.
The movie adds some new players. Hayley Atwell portrays a new main character named Grace, a morally ambiguous pickpocket who brings a powerful presence to the film. She’s proven her toughness and charm in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and her role in Mission: Impossible is a no-brainer. Another MCU actor joining the series is Pom Klementieff in a villainous role as Paris, a French assassin who is on the hunt for Ethan and Grace.
Ethan, Grace and Paris star in a standout scene from the film, which is about the best car chase of the series. This sequence is chock-full of surprises and jokes that make watching the scene that much more exciting beyond the novelty of the fast cars. A bit of well-timed humor underscores the fantastic stunt work on display, which is all the more impressive given that Cruise handles the driving single-handed.
But at Cruise, you know what mind-blowing madness you’re getting yourself into. With his dedication to real, hands-on stunts, he’s established himself as a true action hero. In this film, he performs an amazing stunt that will go down in history. The structure is excellent and the gripping finale offers everything you could wish for in an action film: trains, motorcycles and parachutes. The action is more exciting when you see how much of it comes in handy when Cruise as an action actor does it in real life, like Jackie Chan in Supercop. The final hour will blow you away with its scope and spectacle, and at times feel like a much stronger version of the final action set piece from the first Mission: Impossible film.
McQuarrie ups the ante at every turn in this film. There are minor moments throughout that define Ethan as a character and ground the film while everything else is exciting. As with most Mission films, things often go wrong and the team has to adjust the plan. As Cruise’s character would say in Collateral, “Improvise, adapt to the environment, Darwin, shit happens, I Ching, whatever, man, we’ve got to deal with it.” This creates an engaging narrative that pulls you into the action draws in. The villains are always one step ahead of the heroes, so the heroes must be forced to think two, three, or four steps ahead.
Despite the film’s strengths, it doesn’t reach the heights of Ghost Protocol or Fallout. While those films have been virtually flawless, this film has a few issues that keep it from being among the series’ best. The team element is noticeably absent, particularly in the final act, which features several IWF members far from the action. The move sequence doesn’t reach the unreachable heights of Fallout’s helicopter/cliff/bomb finale. Also, since this is a very complicated narrative, storylines like the one with Jasper (Shea Whigham) and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) feel least necessary and only serve to throw some obstacles in Ethan’s path when he least wants them needs.
However, it’s Cruise and McQuarrie’s fault for setting such a high precedent with their overwhelmingly fantastic collaboration over the past few years. Given that their last two collaborations have been Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Top Gun: Maverick, the fact that this film is worthy of standing on the shoulders of these two action titans is an achievement itself. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is another “part one” in a summer that’s already had its fair share with Fast X and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. But this film feels very complete as you prepare for what’s to come. And anyone who sees this film is sure to be prepared for whatever else the incredibly talented Cruise can muster.
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SCORE: 9/10
As explained in ComingSoon’s Rating Guidelines, a rating of 9 equates to “Excellent”. Entertainment that reaches this level is top notch. The gold standard that every creator wants to achieve.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press preview for us Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review.