“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is a lot of things. It’s a high-octane adrenaline-fuelled espionage film. It’s a meta-textual homage to its own rich legacy of innovation. It’s a very good argument for why Tom Cruise is saving Hollywood. It’s also a humbling reality check for our own green-screen action heroes who believe they’re changing the world from inside of Mehboob Studios.
But most importantly and before any of that, it’s a fantastic time at the movies.
Now, truth be told, I am a seasoned action-movie cynic. I was raised on a diet of Romedy Now and melodramatic Hindi musicals (courtesy of the Chopra-Johar cinematic universe) and even now, with a more nuanced film education on my side, I’m a hundred times more inclined to watch an indie coming-of-age or elaborate period drama or even a dark comedy, than I am to watch an action film. To my teen self, all action movies were synonymous with mindless violence, unimaginative storytelling, and insidious money-making gimmicks. Of course, there are some terrible action films out there (bombastic side eye to Siddharth Anand), but I couldn’t have known that then because I never watched any.
Uninformed opinions combined with unchecked confidence is a particularly obnoxious combination and this review is my official apology to the men I’ve scoffed at my whole life. You were right. The “Mission: Impossible” franchise deserves it all.
“Dead Reckoning Part One” tells the story of how everyone’s favourite IMF operative, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of fellow agents, face off against a largely nameless, faceless, rather Machiavellian artificial intelligence called “The Entity”. Other than having an unimaginative name, The Entity is also an all-knowing digital force, powerful enough to set in motion a global arms race over its control. Our hero is obviously the only one wise or virtuous enough to recognize the need to destroy such power before it ends the world, and definitely the only one capable of taking on this impossible mission.
His team is equal parts quirky and resourceful. There’s Benji, played by Simon Pegg who serves as Ethan’s guy in the chair (and my favourite character) alongside the calm and wise Luther played by Ving Rhames. Rebecca Ferguson is back as ex-MI6 operative Ilsa, and Vanessa Kirby as the White Widow. Hayley Atwell’s charming criminal-pickpocket shtick as Grace is fun to watch even if she frustratingly undermines the plan at each turn. On behalf of The Entity, we have Gabrielle (Esai Morales), a man from Ethan’s past and the genuinely terrifying (this is a compliment) Paris, played by Pom Klementieff.
Then there are keys to be found and source codes to be accessed. Friends to be saved and enemies to be bested. There are anxiety-inducing chases and alleyway fights. Bikes and cars and trains speeding through a variety of exotic locations, and Tom Cruise looking like the polished, affable and endlessly trustworthy hero that he is.
The plot centred around rogue AI could not have come at a better time, with algorithms tracking our every move and things the likes of ChatGPT looming large, and yet it’s evident that this kind of storytelling is prosaic and self-fulfilling. Race against time, fight against evil etc. etc. we know how it goes.
So then why did I love the movie so much? Well, other than the joy of watching Tom Cruise run really really fast, It’s probably because my jaw was on the floor for most of the film.
The stunning execution of each action set piece coupled with the knowledge that Cruise is really the one doing each stunt warrants respect from even the most hard-hearted critic. And my heart is mush when it comes to things like that. The now-iconic shot of him riding his bike off a cliff made me want to get up and whistle in the theatre (even though I saw it on reels weeks ago), as did the entire train sequence that makes up the last half an hour of the film. The devil genuinely is in the details.
When I watched “Top Gun: Maverick” (Also co-produced and co-written by McQuarrie) in theaters, I remember holding my head in my hands and thinking to myself “HOW ON EARTH is this being filmed?” and how “there’s no way anyone can top this” and Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie proved me wrong. He doesn’t even need a plane to fly in this one.
What was extremely impressive as well, was how connected I felt to the legacy and history of the franchise without having watched any of the other films. Embedded in each small interaction, in the very skin of the characters is their life story, their mistakes, their shared experiences and their flaws. I could feel it, and it made the experience that much richer. Not only does this pay homage to the characters but also to the stylistic conventions and the filmmaking chops of its predecessors. The whole thing is extraordinarily well crafted.
Long story short, Tom Cruise may have persuaded me that action movies can save the live cinema experience. And that’s the biggest thing this film could have hoped to achieve. Clear out your schedule and catch “Mission: Impossible” on the biggest screen you can!
