Film Review: Embark on a thrilling ride with Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One’

Thinking about whether to engage with the latest installment of the “Mission: Impossible” series? Have you had enough of the ongoing cinematic explosion? Or, to pose another question: Do you genuinely wish to let Tom Cruise down?

On the inaugural shooting day of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One,” Cruise committed to an actual 4,000-foot drop from a Norwegian cliff while riding a motorcycle, followed by a parachute descent. He performed this stunt for the audience. Isn’t the least you could do in return to watch his film?

The movie is a thrilling, continuously engaging adventure that catapults viewers from the icy terrains of the Bering Sea to the towering rooftops of Abu Dhabi International Airport and the intricate labyrinths of Venice.

The film is laden with a myriad of high-speed car chases through Rome, face masks being dramatically pulled off, desert shoot-outs, a bridge-bound sword fight, and an exceptionally intense train escapade that may surpass any sequence the franchise has ever conceived.

“Things are getting thrilling,” a character states early on, and you will concur without hesitation.

The seasoned director Christopher McQuarrie takes the helm for the third time in this spy saga— he also contributed to Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick”— bringing back romantic interest and spy Rebecca Ferguson, comedic sidekicks Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow, and Henry Czerny as the deceitful Eugene Kittridge.

The fresh faces comprise Esai Morales playing a dastardly villain and Pom Klementieff as his unhinged assistant. Hayley Atwell debuts impressively, portraying a skilled thief and potential love interest for Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt. (And if you think that’s one too many romantic interests, you’re not wrong.)

The antagonist this time is not a person, but a rogue conscious artificial intelligence that has penetrated the computer systems of every country, reflecting Hollywood’s fevered depiction of this nascent technology (and perhaps a sly dig at CGI).

This AI has the capacity to sabotage any digital device with the “power to bring the world to its knees”— or at least back to a pre-internet, analog era. It’s “an enemy that is everywhere and nowhere.” The creators are deliberately vague about the specifics, positioning it as an existential threat and attributing to it the innocuous moniker, The Entity.

As the “Part One” in the title suggests, “Dead Reckoning” is another action franchise transitioning to a multi-part storyline format—like “Spider-Verse” and “Fast & Furious” have done this year— using a two-part unique key as a plot device, much like in “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.”

The key is pursued by Cruise, our thief and potential romantic interest, a U.S. Special Operations team, Morales’ villainous character Gabriel, and the arms dealer The White Widow. It quickly becomes a hot potato, bouncing from one owner to the next like an undesired gift at an office Secret Santa.

So what’s so exceptional about this key? Evidently, the AI needs it and its estimated value is $100 million— which seems quite a bargain. “The future of the world hinges on discovering what the key unlocks,” we are informed. Rhames’ Luther cautions his friend, “Ethan, you’re playing fourth-dimensional chess with an algorithm.”

While previous “Mission: Impossible” films might have portrayed Hunt as somewhat mechanistic, this time the creators permit glimpses of humanity. Cruise expresses humorous irritation at being the passenger in a wildly reversing car in Rome, reminiscent of a weary driving instructor at day’s end. He also displays a softer side in Venice, as he affectionately cuddles Ferguson in the dusk on a gondola.

Regarding the Rome car chase— the Spanish Steps have been decimated by a boisterous American franchise for the second time this year— there’s a delightful scene with Cruise and Atwell handcuffed together in a small, classic yellow Fiat 500.

“Is there anyone who ISN’T pursuing us?” she inquires.

All the parties converge at a high-end, dimly lit European dance party with pulsating rave music and gyrating platform dancers, a Hollywood favorite sequence that “John Wick: Chapter 4” recently outperformed in Berlin.

After initiating production pre-pandemic and running for two and a half hours, the movie climaxes with Cruise’s daredevil motorcycle leap, a breathless train-top fight scene, and a subsequent derailment that forces the protagonists to ascend vertically through carriage after carriage, avoiding wreckage, villains, and even a plummeting piano.

How can you possibly refuse this mission? Tom Cruise essentially defied gravity for your sake. Ignoring his effort would be downright discourteous.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One,” a release by Paramount Pictures exclusively in theaters starting Friday, is rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and action, some language and suggestive material.” Running time: 156 minutes. It receives three and a half stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents are strongly advised to be cautious. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.

Online: https://www.missionimpossible.com

Find Mark Kennedy at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits.

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More about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One Review

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• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One on IMDb
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