Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning-Part One continues to show Tom Cruise & Christopher McQuarrie doing what they do best: saving cinema with arguably Hollywood’s most consistent franchise. With Dead Reckoning Part One, this is yet another thrilling, funny, epic, and wholly satisfying addition to the MI canon that shows this incredible team reaching some new all-time heights. 27 years, now 7 movies in and there’s still no signs of slowing down. Thanks to yet another round of exhilarating set pieces that continue to out do the previous one, a great ensemble cast, a solid (and timely) villain, and an engaging story MI7 makes for another case as to why this series is one of the best on going franchises we’ve ever witnessed.
In a lot of ways, this film is very much a love letter to the entire franchise as a whole. But even more so, this feels like Christopher McQuarrie paying some of his own homage to the film that started it all with Brian De Palma’s 1996 original. Not from just the choice to bring back fan favorite character Kittridge, but also the white knuckle and mysterious spy plot that feels most closely associated with that original film. The stakes have never felt higher in these films and the tension throughout is always impeccable. Even with the De Palma homages, make no mistake McQuarrie's voice still shines through. Aside from Cruise himself, nobody understands this franchise better at this rate. The story is involving and constantly delivering great twist & turns throughout. I think the AI element in this film also works really well and is such a fascinating direction to take this sequel because it's so timely with today's world.
From just a technical standpoint, this film is like perfection across the board. I'm not sure I'd say the action here tops Fallout overall, but it is unsurprisingly spectacular and every single set piece manages to top the one that came before. The entire Rome chase sequence with Tom & Hayley alone is worth the entire price of admission at premium format. It's the perfect combination of edge of your seat thrilling and comedic. It's one of the best set pieces the franchise has ever accomplished which is clearly saying a lot. And then of course there's the much talked about motorcycle stunt and the thrilling climax on the train. It's all electric stuff and Tom Cruise continues to prove he's the madman we need in Hollywood. You're just doing yourself a total disservice if you don't get to experience this one on the biggest screen possible. The score from Lorne Balfe is another fantastic one and one of my favorites in the entire series.
The returning cast continues to do stellar work. Aside from continuing to prove he's maybe the greatest living action star we have left in Hollywood, Cruise continues to also prove he's one of the last true movie stars we have. This is one of his best performances yet as Ethan Hunt and his chemistry with his entire team remains as impeccable ever. Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg remain as reliable as ever as Hunt's closest friends. And while there's not quite enough of Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust for my liking, she remains a major standout and Ethan & Ilsa fans like me will definitely get some satisfying moments. Vanessa Kirby is once again a total delight as The White Widow. And arguably the most exciting return is Henry Czerny as Kittridge and rest assured the film does not disappoint with this long awaited return.
As fabulous as the returning cast all are, it's really the new cast members that get to shine the brightest. I love Hayley Atwell, but wasn't honestly sure how she'd fit with this team given the little we see from trailers. But she fits into this franchise perfectly and I'm so tempted to say she's pretty much the MVP here. I love what they do with Grace and her dynamic with Cruise, I'm excited for more of this character. Esai Morales has always been one underappreciated character actor and he's real good here as our main villain Gabriel. He might be a tad underwritten, but I honestly dug the backstory they give him that connects to Ethan's past and hope we see that explored more in Part Two. But the scene stealing villain performance easily goes to Pom Klementieff who is such an unhinged and fun presence to watch here despite being almost entirely mute. Two other great newcomers here are the always great Shea Whigham and Greg Tarzan Davis, I can seriously watch a buddy cop comedy with these two. All of these new additions fit so well into this world.
As much as I absolutely love this film and want to say it's a perfect film, I definitely do have some minor gripes. While I really dug the AI direction, the first half or so especially contains so much exposition and I think does get ever so slightly boggled down by some of that. It can occasionally make a lot of the first half a little convoluted which can often be the case with an MI film. Once our team gets together though, everything starts to feel much smoother and flow so well though. This is also a nearly three hour (Part One) film and I can see why some are calling it a bit bloated, but I honestly never once felt the length here. Not sure if it needs to be that long, but it barely even felt like two hours for me. But easily my biggest nit-pick with this film is arguably its biggest plot turn that happens midway through. I'm conflicted because I think this said sequence is executed to damn near perfection, but the decision that is made is what left me just a little disappointed. This is clearly spoiler territory so once more people have seen this I'll definitely do a spoiler write up too. I've seen this twice now and both viewings left me conflicted with this big moment.
Despite those small issues, this Mission Impossible aficionado still walked out of Dead Reckoning-Part One having had an absolute wonderful time and probably the most fun I've had with a movie all year. It might not be the absolute masterpiece that Fallout pretty much is, but this is still such a thrilling, engaging, amusing, and hugely satisfying addition to what is probably my favorite on going franchise right now. Yes this is definitely a Part One, but I feel it still tells a completed and story that just happens to have another mystery to it which leaves me so hungry for Part Two. This is easily one of my favorite films of the year so far and one I can't wait to see for a third time soon enough because I know this will continue to get even better with rewatches. No misses, only hits for Tom Cruise & Christopher McQuarrie.
Final Grade: A-