Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen
Sequel to: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Cary Elwes, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney
Seen on: 19.7.2023

Plot:
The testing of a new AI aboard a Russian submarine goes awry, leaving Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg) to hunt down two halves of a key that could control it. But they are far from the only party interested. One half of the key is in the possession of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby) would like the key as well. And there is also Grace (Hayley Atwell), a talented pickpocket tasked with getting the key.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a pretty good time, delivering the kind of action thrills you’d hope for in a Mission: Impossible movie, paired with a largely so convoluted as to be barely comprehensible plot. Some things had me rolling my eyes, but if you like action scenes, you will be more than satisfied here.

I am not the world’s biggest action fan, and I certainly find Tom Cruise as a person a little questionable, but Tom Cruise in an action movie is about as much a guarantee for a good time as you’re able to get in this world and time. And that’s certainly true for the Mission: Impossible series. Not all entries are good, but they are usually entertaining. And Dead Reckoning is more than that, giving us tightly choreographed action scenes and excitement.

Now, the plot is not the reason to watch the film, built more on what works on film than on narrative logic. And I have to admit that I had to start rolling my eyes a little whenever they say the words “The Entity”. A drinking game based on this would have you in a drunken stupor in no time. But that is par for the course for a Mission: Impossible film.

The film is clearly interested in showing the human cost of Ethan Hunt’s career. Unfortunately, this happens mostly to the detriment of the female characters. It seems no coincidence that Benji and Luther have survived so far, but the various female characters that joined their team (in more or less clear allegiance) are in a much more vulnerable position. Men are for surviving here, women are for paying the price.

Be that as it may, the film is a good time and you don’t really feel its substantial length. And while it is probably time to put Ethan Hunt to rest, I don’t mind that the film is only first part of the (probable) end.

Summarizing: Entertaining.