Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning-Part One

 

Score:  A

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales

Running time: 164 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Tom Cruise returns to his spy agent role Ethan Hunt for a seventh time in Dead Reckoning - Part One, and he - and the movie - are as good as ever.  It's long, but packed with both great action and intriguing personal battles more intense than before.  Whether the stunts are actually bigger than ever is debatable but they are at least as entertaining, and the direction and writing maximizes its impact with good variety and pacing.  This is a must-see summer blockbuster for all.

Ethan (Cruise) is faced with perhaps his least-possible mission yet: battling not just crafty human foes, but also a menacing AI program gone rogue.  Developed by the Russians, "the Entity" quickly grew beyond the bounds, and control, of its creator, leading to an international race among the world's powers to try to seize control of the dangerous software.  Realizing the Entity is too dangerous to be allowed to survive as a pawn in the intelligence wars, Ethan decides to destroy it, but to do so he'll need to recover the literal key to the program.  Teaming up with old friends Luther (Rhames) and Benji (Pegg), as well as new allies, Ethan must find the key before it slips out of his - and everyone else's - grasp forever.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (Part One) is another exemplary installment of the nearly thirty-year-old franchise, as Cruise & Co. somehow continue to push the boundaries of practical action stunt work but also ground it in rock-solid storytelling and characters.  I have to begin with the action, since it's the main draw, even though it's not the only good thing going.  The variety, creativity, and sheer intensity are brilliant, and director and writer McQuarrie does a great job of building it up gradually throughout the film to a fantastic finale.  It actually starts rather slowly - no big, pre-credits set piece like in Bond movies.  Instead, we get a pretty direct picture of the stakes of this new mission and the ominous AI, or "Entity".  It's not too subtle, but you'll be grateful for that later.  The first great action scene is more like MI's classic stealth and deception setup, as Ethan attempts to make a quick switch with an unsuspecting target at an airport while also evading agents who are after him.  It mixes in so much yet seamlessly, from humor, to "plan B, C, & D" improvising, to dark hints of the Entity's power.  Next up is a car chase through Rome that vaguely recalls the one from MI-Fallout, yet it is both just as good as and utterly distinct from that one.  I particularly appreciated that, for all Ethan's talents, the chase is also filled with goof-ups (from both good and bad guys); and his pairing with a skilled thief - but a newbie to multi-party, full throttle urban chases - provides humor and grounding.  The final act on a train is much slower and longer, but does not feel drawn out at all, thanks to its split into multiple, distinct sub-scenes.  This is where we get the big stunt of the film, Ethan's jump off a cliff on a motorcycle which you've probably seen part of in previews - it's another great moment for MI.  A desperate scramble for survival at the very end might even top that cliff jump, but I won't spoil it here.

MI-Dead Reckoning Part One is, just like its title, quite long, at two hours and forty five minutes.  A good portion of this is the action described above, but there is plenty else going on that, as with any similar franchise worth watching, is also engaging.  Although the movie starts in fairly un-MI-like style with its overt description of the Entity and its capability, the rest of the movie slides easily back into the series' penchant for duplicity and work in the shadows, both seen and implied.  And the characters playing this all out are equal to the task, thanks in no small part to the film's continuation of previous stories and themes.  Tom Cruise as lead IMF agent Ethan Hunt is still on top of his game - certainly in the action scenes, where he is utterly believable and still runs like a man on, well, a mission - but also in the quieter in-between scenes; Ethan has both softened, showing increased affection for his friends, but also deeply troubled by his foe here.  Atwell (new) and Ferguson (returning) are tremendous as well, every bit Cruise/Hunt's equal in the field but utilizing very different styles to do so.  They are strong, independent characters yet their complex relationships with Hunt help shed new light on him, too.  Morales is a chilly and effective presence as main baddy Gabriel - cool, competent and fearless.  But there are also plenty of sheer fun roles, starting with Hunt's loyal partners Luther (Rhames) and Benji (Pegg), as good as ever.  Returning Alanna (Kirby) is still snarky fun and Pom Klementieff (Guardians' Mantis) is a riot as a psycho terminator.  All these vivid characters give the plot and action much more meaning; the AI "takeover the world" might feel a bit distant, but the battle to control or destroy it brings out very personal and ruthless stakes.  Some of Hunt and Co.'s old tricks are breaking down in this new digital era, whether because AI co-opts or disrupts them, or they simply stop working.  One thing's for sure, though: this Mission Impossible works at least as well if not better than ever.

***

Mission Impossible was one of the films I was counting on this summer, similar to my expectations for any new Pixar film - and just like Elemental last month, it came through brilliantly.  To provide another comparison, even though this is a part one-of-two movie, there is no feeling of letdown at the end, only excitement for what's next, like in Avengers Infinity War.  Let's keep it going: Mission Impossible is absolutely one of the great action movie franchises of all time, right there with James Bond.  Two other recent, "mini-franchises" are also great, in Matt Damon's Bourne movies and Keanu Reeves's John Wick (I saw the fourth movie this spring - I haven't written my review yet but I will!).  I find it more and more difficult to enjoy other action movies now, as they almost always pale in comparison to these fantastic series.  Next up is quite a change of pace - Oppenheimer - and after that, I really have no idea.  Until next time!

* By Deadline, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73287380