THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE.
by Jarrod Jones. Mission: Impossible has operated in a state of constant change for decades. The stylish spycraft of Brian De Palma’s 1996 film turned into an operatic exercise in extreme sports mayhem courtesy of John Woo’s M:I – 2. Then came M: I- III, helmed by JJ Abrams during the peak of his ABC spy show Alias, which, in true tv tropey fashion, married off Ethan Hunt, the eternally youthful IMF agent and “living manifestation of destiny” played by Tom Cruise. Brad Bird reinvigorated things after that — and wisely side-stepped Hunt’s new marital status — with a funny, elaborate return to basics with Ghost Protocol. Since then, Mission: Impossible has been in something of a holding pattern.
That’s not shade so much as an observation. The subsequent films in the series — Rogue Nation, Fallout, and now Dead Reckoning Part One — have been a riot to watch as they go through their death-defying motions. With the Rolodex of in-demand directors now set aside, it seems fitting that Mission: Impossible, the most consistently entertaining action franchise of the last quarter century, has pinned its fortunes on a thoughtful workhorse filmmaker like Christopher McQuarrie. His passion for and insistence on in-camera stuntwork, things he shares with his leading man, have been an energizing tonic for the Hollywood blockbuster’s embrace of homogenized, computer-glazed ensemble fare.
Which brings us to Dead Reckoning Part One, here to save the summer movie season, if not eat up a good chunk of it. It’s a long film, the longest in the series’ 27-year history, filled to brimming with motorcycle cliff diving, cat-and-mouse airport runs, Italian Job-style car chases, and, happily, callbacks to De Palma’s ’96 entry. If you, like me, feel Mission: Impossible has been generous with its action but too withholding of street magician sleight-of-hand, canted angles, and Henry Czerny, you just hit the jackpot.
Obviously, we’re all here to witness a bit more of the disciplined ferocity of Tom Cruise, perhaps cinema’s last true marquee draw. Whatever his latest mission turns out to be is secondary; we know the world will once again be at stake, and life, limb, and a presumably eye-watering insurance policy will be risked to thwart it. It’s the stunts we’re here to see, and Dead Reckoning Part One maximizes its 163-minute runtime to indulge us in its thrills. Well, for the most part — but let’s come back to that.
For now, we can share our enjoyment of the film’s sandstorm shootout in the deserts of Abu Dhabi, where Cruise’s Ethan Hunt teams with Rebecca Ferguson — back, perhaps for the final time, as wild card double agent Ilsa Faust — who rocks an eyepatch for no serious reason but it does make her look like a gender-flipped Snake from Metal Gear Solid. There’s also a moderately gripping submarine thriller that kicks off the film’s events that deliberately evokes The Hunt for Red October — another spy movie hit from a decade when Mission: Impossible looked somewhat ridiculous by comparison.
As for those ’96 callbacks, McQuarrie attempts to find some of that De Palma magic by framing his many shot-reverse-shot conversations at improbable angles, perhaps to add a bit more frenzy to his various actors’ nervy line readings. The artistry of De Palma is lost on McQuarrie’s meat-and-potatoes approach — remember that his director/actor relationship with Cruise began with Jack Reacher, an efficient and brawny action exercise. If there were story reasons to push the camera close on his actors or shoot a first-person perspective — as M:I – 1 did, most memorably during its initial undercover operation that immersed the viewer in heavy subterfuge — then De Palma executed them. When McQuarrie tilts his camera, it’s because De Palma did it first.
I suppose we should discuss the plot. It’s a complicated spiel about a rogue AI referred to rather ominously as The Entity, and there are a set of keys that, when fitted together, unlock some gizmo that will unleash it. That’s where Gabriel (Esai Morales) comes in, a rogue agent rather clumsily retconned into Ethan Hunt’s past. Gabriel wants both keys and since this is a Misson: Impossible movie, getting his hands on them is like walking across hot coals, blindfolded, in stilettos. Making things personal is an early reveal that shows Gabriel murdering a woman Ethan was once close to (Mariela Garriga). Between her, Ilsa, Michelle Monaghan, and this film’s romantic inclusion of Hayley Atwell’s thief character Grace, it’s confirmed that Ethan Hunt, if not Tom Cruise, totally has a type.
What Gabriel intends to do with The Entity is unclear. We see him lying in a sarcophagus wearing a strange helmet with the AI’s circular logo actively wiggling around on it, so perhaps they share some sort of psychic connection. What’s important is how Hunt circumnavigates Gabriel’s plans; more important is how McQuarrie makes it conceivable that Cruise’s superspy may not always be up to the task. One sequence that features a pair of switchblade knives and a foggy midnight sprint through Venice is staged just well enough to make it believable.
That seems to be the operative phrase for Dead Reckoning Part One: well enough. In bursts, it’s thrilling. There’s a car chase set in the winding streets of Rome that functions like a first date between Cruise and Atwell (and they spend a conspicuous amount of time kissably close to each other in this movie). Pom Klementieff, Mantis from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, is chasing them, and her manic grin and bleached-blonde locks make her look like she was ported in from the set of a John Wick movie. (Or, as Manohla Dargis rightfully noted, a Batman movie.) Between set pieces such as this, however, are long stretches of chatter. That’s where McQuarrie’s deficits as a storyteller become more apparent.
Of course, we can chalk up all these clunky back-and-forths to COVID shoots. The screenplay, co-written by McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers), walks a thin line between fun and severity. At one point, Czerny (back as IMF honcho Kittridge) offers some heady musings about the wars to come on our rapidly dwindling planet and what they’ll be fought for — land, water, and air. It’s one of the film’s rare examples of how it can get you to shift in your seat without a torpedo or speeding train.
More generally, the film rarely takes itself seriously enough to feel guilty about chuckling whenever an actor lays out its ridiculous stakes with a straight look on their face. Dead Reckoning is sapped somewhat of the spark Bird showed us in Ghost Protocol, but it retains the charm of its prior installments. Another plus: the chemistry between McQuarrie’s leads — especially between Atwell and literally everyone else — that keeps it aloft.
With this 8-film run of Missions one summer away from nearing completion (Dead Reckoning Part Two drops June 28, 2024), McQuarrie and Cruise are looking to close a circle that began almost three decades ago. As a part one, this functions more agreeably as a standalone film than, say, Across the Spider-Verse, but one can’t shake the feeling that we’re sitting through almost three hours of padding — entertaining padding, certainly, but still padding — to get to the good stuff. And if the circle does, in fact, close next year, Cruise’s potential final outing as cinema’s second most enduring secret agent is primed to be even more explosive than this. I’m hoping it’s also less reflective. After all, when we watch Tom Cruise run in these movies, we can plainly see that he isn’t running backward.
6.5 out of 10
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is in wide release now.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
Written by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen.
Cinematography by Fraser Taggart.
Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny.
Produced by Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie.
Rated PG-13 for slashy knife play and overall action mayhem.
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