Based upon the television series "Mission: Impossible" created by Bruce Gellar
Screenplay Written by Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendressen
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13
Under normal circumstances, I would say that there is not one reason in the world that the seventh entry in an ongoing film series should only continue in top tier excellence. But, in the case of the "Mission: Impossible" series, that one reason undeniably, unquestionably, and absolutely is...Tom Cruise.
For nearly 30 years, the "Mission: Impossible" series, starring Tom Cruise as the intrepid Impossible Mission Force (IMF) secret agent Ethan Hunt, has exceedingly defied...well...impossible odds, at least as far as continuing film series tend to progress. After two strong opening films, Brian DePalma's "Mission: Impossible" (1996) and John Woo's "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000), it was J.J. Abrams' "Mission: Impossible III" (2006) that truly began the series' rocket ride into becoming a cinematic beast often eclipsing features starring James Bond and/or Jason Bourne.
Brad Bird's "Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol" (2011) and the previous two chapters, "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" (2015) and "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" (2018), each directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who is now shepherding the enterprise alongside Cruise, who produces the series, all worked furiously to ensure that the adventures of Ethan Hunt and his team would not only refuse to grow tired but would only ascend to new heights with every new installment. And if Tom Cruise needed to perform his increasingly eye popping and death defying stunts himself, then so be it.
Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One," the seventh chapter once again is an absolute triumph. Just as he achieved miraculously with Joseph Kosinski's skyrocketing "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022), it is as if Tom Cruise is ensuring every movie mission featuring Ethan Hunt is accomplished through sheer force of will as again, the end result is a master class display of the modern day action adventure thriller.
After saving the world from the nearly cataclysmic events of the previous film, "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One," finds Ethen Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his teammates Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) as well as the disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who now has a bounty placed upon her head by the IMF, faced with an even greater threat than before.
An experimental AI known as "The Entity" has achieved sentience and has gone rogue, forcing the world's nations to all go in pursuit in order to establish sole control of the artificial intelligence. Ethan Hunt and his team, however, wish to find the two halves of the cruciform key, which allows the user to harness The Entity. as a means to destroy the AI. Complicating matters further is the arrival of Gabriel (Esai Morales), a pre-IMF ally of Ethen's, now turned terrorist and Grace (Hayley Atwell), a professional thief, each of whom are also racing for the key.
With that, you have the basic plot of "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One," and as with the other six films, this is essentially all you need as the straightforwardness of the plot allows Christopher McQuarrie to invent all manner of conundrums, obstacles, sleights of hand, pitfalls, cliffhangers and so much more in the execution. While I will give "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" the sleight edge as being the best film of the series to date, this seventh chapter is unquestionably sensational and only continues the exceedingly high quality control that has been established. Despite the "Part One" that exists within the title, McQuarrie has ensured that we receive as complete of a film as possible, while also leaving us wanting more.in the already filming Part Two (which has, at this time of writing, been placed on hold due to the Writers and Screen Actors Guild dual strikes).
Tom Cruise, as always, more than delivers the cinematic bang for our buck, literally risking life and limb to gift us with soaring, spectacular entertainment and doing so, his cast mates are all equally up to the task with their commitment to the enterprise as a whole. I love how after all of this time, Cruise has made Ethan Hunt a hero that we would follow upon any adventure, anywhere while also being largely a man of mystery as we still do not know terribly much about the man behind the secret agent, only learning tidbits about him (and his teammates) here and there with each film. This speaks volumes to the magnetism and intense commitment delivered by Tom Crise, an actor--despite one's feelings about him and his celebrity--is not an actor who cold ever be accused of "phoning it in." Tom Cruise, once again, is ALL IN!!
Back to the film at hand, in essence, "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One" gives us a glimpse into the man Ethan Hunt quite possibly was before his time in the IMF, yet cleverly not through his character necessarily, but largely through the character of Grace and her character's arc throughout this film and Hayley Atwell is more than up to the challenge as her portrayal is as breezy as it is complex, always allowing us to lean in closer to garner her intentions as her motivations truly depend upon the situations she finds herself entangled. I like that even now, am still wondering if "Grace" is even her character's real name and that gives her the precise sense of intrigue that makes her a perfect addition to this series.
Ving Rhames (the only actor besides Cruise to have appeared in every film in the series) and Simon Pegg continue to be solid anchors to the film as well as Hunt's IMF team, functioning as the soul and the heart, respectively. Rebecca Ferguson remains as formidable as her previous two appearances. And I really loved how this film essentially circles back to, while also updating, the first film of the series with the return of Hunt's nemesis, IMF Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), now the head of the CIA.
Honoring the past while pressing headlong into the future is a paramount theme for Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise's intentions and journey for the series, and for this film in particular. Certainly the past in regards to this series but most importantly, the past within the history of the action film itself.
As with so many elements and full genres that have fallen by the wayside in current era of modern cinema, the art of the action sequence almost feels like something from a bygone period. Increasingly since the end of the 1990's and throughout the 00's, audiences have been subjected to have varied between Michael Bay mega excess and CGI bombast, where either a series of cameras are present to film the action from all manner of angles gathering information only to be "fixed" within editing without rhyme or reason, making for an experience where audiences are bludgeoned rather than exhilarated, and left with no real understanding of what makes an action sequence really pop. Yet, when the good ones come along, audiences just know the difference.
Earlier this year, Chad Stahelski's "John Wick: Chapter 4," raised the bar so tremendously high for his own series as the action film genre itself so exceedingly high that he not only helmed the finest entry in the series by a wide mile, as well as one of the best films of 2023, this film is in a rarefied league of recent movie experiences where it can sit more than comfortably with the likes of George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), Edgar Wright's "Baby Driver" (2017) and it is definitely a cloze cousin with Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill Volume 1" (2003).
Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One" exists in the exact same rarefied cinematic air as McQuarrie understands how to imagine and then stage, choreograph and execute his action sequences to ensure that we in the audience understand exactly why and where everything and everyone is in relation to each other in a physical space, while also dazzling us with the sheer physicality presented and how people and objects move through the frame. What we know about the characters and what is at stake regarding the story infuses the action sequences with purpose and not just noise and that, at its best, congeals into a visceral, white knuckle experience which McQuarrie delivers in spades!
In doing so, I loved how McQuarrie and Cruise clearly looked backwards in film history for inspiration as the set pieces are clearly modern 21st century updates of what the likes of Buster Keaton originated. A ticking time bomb needs to be diffused through the series of agonizing riddles and psychological tests. A car chase in which two principals are oddly hand cuffed to each other. Spectacular fist fights and foot chases--again, no one in the film business runs like Tom Cruise! And then, there's the film's electrifying climax, which echoes the first film's ending set piece, is set aboard a speeding train, and that entire gravity defying section is worth the price of admission!!!
Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One" is a veritable master class in the action film/spy thriller genre and I deeply applaud is and Tom Cruise's unwavering commitment to delivering the absolute BEST that they could conceive of, especially in this time of over extended franchises, sequels, prequels, reboots and re-imaginings. The sheer effort is all over the screen and we respond in kind and should they continue to try and therefore, produce at this level, there is no reason for them to cease.
But then...Mr. Cruise, it's ok to call in a stunt man!
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