- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE
- Starring: Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell
- Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
- Rating: PG-13
- Running Time: 2 hrs 43 mins
- Paramount Pictures
Unlike other tired movie franchises that never seem to end, think “Transformers” and “Fast and Furious,” the “Mission Impossible” series, which began way back in 1996, has bucked the trend and has continued to not only stay fresh with each passing installment, but it has managed to find a way to get better. “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” the seventh installment involving secret agent Ethan Hunt, more than lives up to the hype with lots of great action, tremendous stunts, suspense, and a solid storyline that provides a cautionary tale about the dangers artificial intelligence could hypothetically pose to humanity.
The seemingly ageless Tom Cruise, in the wake of the wildly successful “Top Gun: Maverick,” is in top form as IMF secret agent Ethan Hunt, who is tasked with a new mission if he chooses to accept it. This time, he is asked to retrieve half of a key from his ally, sometimes romantic interest, and former British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). He soon learns that both halves of the key are desired by every nation on Earth as it could possibly lead to controlling an artificial intelligence called Entity, which has gone rogue much to the detriment of every network on the planet.
Ethan believes Entity is uncontrollable and vows to destroy it. To do this, he assembles his team including Ilsa, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg). A highly skilled pickpocket and thief named Grace (Hayley Atwell, “Captain America: The First Avenger”) stumbles upon Ethan and gets pulled into their high stakes’ gambit. Ethan’s principal opponent, besides the George Orwell-type A.I., is an old nemesis of his named Gabriel (Esai Morales, “La Bamba”) who once played a pivotal role in Ethan becoming an IMF agent and is now aligned with Entity.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie (“Mission Impossible: Fallout,” “Jack Reacher,” “The Way of the Gun”), who’s no stranger to Cruise, has crafted a wild roller coaster ride that is absolutely perfect for summertime entertainment. McQuarrie’s craftmanship leaves us wanting more, which is a good thing since “Dead Reckoning” is split into two parts with the second half to be released next year.
Cruise once again shows that he is arguably the last true movie star. The kind of star that harkens back to a bygone era when one name across the top of the movie poster could ensure its success. His skills as an actor have never been better as he seems to elevate the rest of the cast that surrounds him. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the film’s brilliant story taps into the fears of what an A.I., that doesn’t value human life, could be capable of.
Overall, “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One” is one of the two best movies of the summer season (the other being “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3”).
“Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One” receives four stars out of five.