by Charles Kirkland Jr.
The IMF is back! Facing a new global threat that could mean the extinction of mankind upon the earth, Ethan and company race into action as only they can in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.
With every agency in the world on their heels, the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) must retrieve two artifacts that form a key that has the power to control “The Entity,” an artificial intelligence program that has embedded itself within almost every computer in the world, including the nuclear defense systems of every country in the world. While every nation sees the potential to rule the world that the key possesses, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) sees the dangerous likelihood that exists if one country has all that power. Meanwhile, The Entity has acquired the services of an old foe of Hunt’s, Gabriel (Esai Morales) a dangerous man responsible for making Ethan what he is today and has been instructed to capture the key to protect The Entity. Can Ethan and his team outthink, outplan, and outwit a computer that seemingly knows it all?
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is a spy action thriller starring Cruise and Morales with Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Henry Czerny. The film is written by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen, based on characters created by Bruce Geller. Dead Reckoning is also directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Starting with Jack Reacher and having done the last two films in the Mission Impossible franchise, McQuarrie seems to be Tom Cruise’s favorite action writer and director. He is of course the director for the sequel, Dead Reckoning Part Two, slated for release next year.
In its inception, the Mission Impossible film franchise was like the television series, Ethan would accept a mission, assemble his crew, and complete the objective in their own way. McQuarrie has seemed to change the rules of the franchise taking it from completing a series of random jobs each episode to a running storyline with each film building upon the other. Instead of a rotating crew of agents, there has been a stable assembly of Hunt’s “crew” that has appeared in each of the last three movies. This evolution of plot has a certain similarity to the recent Daniel Craig helmed James Bond series of films. Until this film, even the villains have continued to threaten the world.
Everything changes with this film. With the introduction of an all-knowing, super-intelligent, and predictive AI program called The Entity, McQuarrie also evolves the villain, ramping up the fear by creating a program that wants to take over the world. This is essentially the same theme from classic movies like The Terminator, The Matrix, A.I., and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But because of recent events in the technological world, specifically the developments in the realm of artificial intelligence, the threat posed in this film seems so much more relevant and possible. It’s not a future problem, it’s a right-now problem. Therefore, the mission becomes so much more impossible. So underneath all the action and stunts in the film is this incredibly well-written and composed commentary on the direction of current computer research.
But the excellence of the film does not stop with McQuarries’ script. His direction needs to be treasured as well. Dead Reckoning is an action-packed, thrill ride that grabs hold and takes you on an almost three-hour adventure that moves as fast as any roller coaster. Everyone has seen the motorcycle jump stunt but instead of giving away its hand, the jump is only a precursor for all the action yet to come. The fight scenes are all intricately choreographed as are the car chases. And of course, there is the signature Tom Cruise run. Along with the soundtrack that pumps Lalo Schifrin’s classic theme and builds upon it with new tracks, this film has it all. This film was filmed in Dolby Audio and that experience is unlike any other ever before. This is a worthy investment if you have an equipped theater near you!
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some language, and suggestive material, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is the movie of the summer. Last year, Tom Cruise had his first $100 million opening weekend with Top Gun: Maverick. This year he should do even better. Cinema is back!
Grade: A