Movie Breakdown: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Pre-Screening Stance:
Weirdly, the only thing I know about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is that it features a scene where Tom Cruise launches himself off a mountain via a motorcycle. What the heck is the plot? Does it even matter? In any case, I’m sure it’s going to be great, as the franchise has been on a real hot streak since the mediocre second film (sorry, John Woo).
Post-Screening Ramble:
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is more of the same, but that’s great news. The story is … well, it’s a sci-fi-leaning something or other. Essentially, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is tasked with locating his love interest/colleague/friend Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who is in possession of one half of a special key that likely grants access to a revolutionary AI known as The Entity. Naturally, Hunt isn’t the only one attempting to gain control of the AI, and further complicating everything is The Entity itself, which has become self-aware, gone rogue, and is actively interfering with anyone trying to locate the two halves of the key that may be able to shut it down. A lot of running and shooting and such then ensues as Hunt and his usual cohorts – Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) – try to save the world.
It’s a little weird when it comes to “reviewing” these Mission: Impossible movies, because at this point, you’re either in on them or you’re not. At any rate, Cruise is, of course, immensely dedicated here and you can’t help but get caught up in his passion for the role, even when he’s hopping on yet another motorcycle and shouting about a rogue AI. Of the new faces, it’s Hayley Atwell that stands out the most – she plays a savvy, talented, and very confident thief named Grace, and I think it’s maybe the best thing she’s ever done. On the action side of things, I don’t know if I would say that Dead Reckoning tops Fallout, but it gets pretty close. There’s a really fun car chase involving a Fiat, the train sequence near the end is super, and the big mountain-motorbike-parachute stunt that’s in all of the previews is indeed a stunner. By the way, this movie is just short of three hours long, but it’s such a blast of pure escapism that you don’t really notice. Also, even though “part one” is clearly in the title, it’s probably good to reiterate that the film builds to a cliffhanger. I did find it to be more of a standalone affair than recent films like Across The Spider-Verse or Fast X but still, it will leave you wanting more.
Yes, you should see Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One when it hits theaters on Wednesday, July 12. And yes, you should see it on the biggest screen you can find.
One Last Thought:
I’m sure it won’t be long before someone does an official count of how many times “The Entity” is said throughout this movie. My guess is somewhere around 200.
