Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One Review: About 20 minutes into Mission: Impossible 7, as the opening credits roll in, Tom Cruise makes it clear – fasten your seat belts, it’s about to be a fun ride. Tom Cruise returns for the seventh time as Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt, and this time he has death-defying stunts that are bigger than the previous films. If the amazing stunts weren’t enough, Tom has actresses Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson and Pom Klementieff supporting him and taking the film up a notch.
Before we get into the review of the film, let us have a look at the story of the film. Without revealing spoilers, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One revolves around Ethan’s new impossible mission: fighting against the AI. The agent reunites with his friends Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) to combat a new digital weapon. Throughout the film, Ethan and his team travel to Rome, Venice, and the Alps to battle AI agents.
As the trailer and promos have already promised, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One introduces an action drama film. To make fans forget that he’s now 61, Tom Cruise drives through the streets of Rome, runs through the streets of Venice and slides off a cliff to deliver one action scene after another. With action sequences at the core of the film, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise outdo themselves with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
McQuarrie makes sure that each action scene is filled with a different emotion. With the romance sequences, the director is full of humour. When they reach the action scene in Venice, he takes the action scene a notch higher with emotions, and in the end, he keeps us hooked with the drama. These scenes prove once again that Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise collaborating is the best thing that happened to the Mission: Impossible series. He is upping his game with every Gujarati film and it is a treat for the fans.
Apart from the action sequences, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One offers a good but slow story. Writers Christopher McQuarrie and Eric Jendresen weave a new story in sync with all the previous Mission: Impossible films. The film offers raucous moments in the first half, but the writing starts getting delayed in the second half, which slows down the film a bit before building up to the climax. However, where it’s appropriate, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
On the acting front, Tom Cruise makes us forget he’s 61. Not only does he pull off action sequences like a pro, but he also has amazing chemistry with Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby. The nod to the film gives us a sense that Cruise and Ethan have matured through seven movies. Where Cruise shines in the film, the women in the film are Cruise’s equals.
Hayley Atwell is good as Grace, elegantly rebellious and it’s a delight to watch her as the dashing thief in the film. The return of Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust is very welcome. Both his action sequences in the film are one of the highlights of the film. My favorite was to see Pom Klementieff as Paris. It seems that the actress will be comfortable playing the role of an emotion-less villain in the film.
Esai Morales as Gabriel is a huge disappointment to me. Playing the face of a dangerous AI, Esai Morales feels like a weak villain, especially after watching Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. His scenes with every character, including Cruise, fail to make an impact. Alana has a stronger screen presence and chemistry with Vanessa Kirby than with Morales.
Special mention to cinematographer Fraser Taggart. He helps bring Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s visions to life in ways that elevate the film. While the chase sequences make you sit through a movie masterclass breaking down each scene, Taggart makes Cruise’s running shots a cinematic experience.
Bottom line: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One isn’t a perfect movie, but it is a gift for Tom Cruise fans. The weight of the film rests not only on Cruise’s shoulders, but also on the shoulders of the women in the film.
