Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Some brilliantly overblown action sequences in a generally problematic film for me. MI may look deadly serious, fateful, whatever, but I'm afraid we're already on the level of the Fast and Furious franchise in terms of plot intelligence. The whole AI stampede is utterly ludicrously contrived, the plot still has to be explained verbatim by one of the characters to get the viewer to at least frame it, but it doesn't help much. If we forget about the craftsmanship and just think about the plot itself... I don't believe it makes sense to anyone. For example the dialogue exchange at the Venetian party, WTF? We spend over two and a half hours looking for a key, next thing we know we're diving towards a submarine for over two and a half hours, then Cruise shoves the key up the AI's ass and it goes nuts or something. 83 percent and 620th best movie, My God. (10/23/2023)

At first glance, Dead Reckoning Part One is the weakest instalment of the franchise, as it paradoxically offers half the attractions of the best of the previous instalments in the longest runtime. The car chase in Rome is nothing to write home about and the train scene is lifted from the first Mission: Impossible, plus there is a hopped-up version of the most thrilling scene from The Lost World. BUT! On the second viewing, I found Dead Reckoning Part One to be the most entertaining of all the Mission: Impossible movies thanks to its plot. The way the movie’s subject perfectly coincides with the threat of artificial intelligence; the constellation of characters from the previous instalments, including Kittridge from the first one; the new ultimate bad guy Gabriel, whom Ethan Hunt has double the reason to hate more than anything else in the world; the sincere emotion of the scene on the Conzafelzi bridge in Venice; the new beauty Hayley Atwell, who shares perfect chemistry with Tom Cruise; and plenty of humorous and imaginative details that dress up the scenes that seem less than innovative at first glance – the airport, the car chase in Rome, the incorporation of the well-known motorcycle jump into the train and the almost cinephilically orgiastic climax that transforms the aforementioned scene from The Lost World into an absolute blockbuster thrill. And we’re only halfway through the movie. If Part Two has the build-up that Cruise and McQuarrie know it must have, Dead Reckoning will become the alpha instalment of the franchise and will possibly set a new course for the multi-part delivery of Ethan Hunt’s future impossible missions. The news that Tom plans to keep making them until he’s eighty made my day. (07/12/2023)

The collaboration of the McQuarrie-Cruise duo is a well-established brand promising a modern take on old-school action in an edgy, thrilling and adrenaline-fuelled setting, and that is absolutely true this time as well. Many things could be praised, but the best way to describe it is that even though we've seen chases through ancient buildings in a small car or action in an out-of-control train countless times, the way it is paced, plotted and delivered here is both breathtaking and riveting in a way that will make you sweat your shirt off from the sheer dodging and clenching of fists. A genre film that defines (though does not redefine) the genre to the core. Too bad about the apparent lack of closure and the bland villain. Hats off and pure enthusiastic curiosity about where they want to take it in the finale. (07/08/2023)

HE’S RUNNING AGAIN, at a nice heroic pace, knees right up (yeah, right Tom, we know you're an eternal youngster, you don't have to keep reassuring us so blatantly). The film itself is a succession of good action sequences, glued onto a stupid skeleton that seems to have fallen out of a spy movie from the 60s, the ones that were so beautifully parodied later. I found the concept of the Entity utterly ridiculous. (10/12/2023)

From the 4th episode, Mission Impossible is one of the great spy action series, where every new episode is a big action feast, and I was expecting Reckoning to be one of the movies of the year. Even though it's a great show, I thought it was a bit slower compared to Fallout and Rogue Nation, which I think are a level above. Tom Cruise is still in great form and there's one amazing stunt, the craftsmanship is again of a high standard, and the film is definitely a lot of fun, but there are a few little things that slightly detracted from the absolute experience. I don't find the AI theme all that dazzling or interesting, and I'm a little bothered that it will continue into the finale, but I'll probably have to put up with it. Gabriel is a weaker villain than the previous ones the franchise had and doesn't even have much scope, I felt like there were fewer high tech gadgets and there were definitely fewer contact fights (the bathroom fight with Henry Cavill still resonates in my head, no such satisfaction here). The chase in Rome is cool and thanks to Fiat it's very fresh and original (it doesn't have the same feel as the motorbike chase), but the finale on the train is excellent (the scene where Cruise has to change from carriage to carriage is one of the best sequences of the whole series, that was a really cool eye candy moment), so even though I have a few minor reservations, it's still a great blockbuster that's worth seeing in the cinema, but when I compare it to this year's action movies, both John Wick 4 and Extraction 2 were surprisingly more satisfying. 8/10. (07/26/2023)