Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

The panic over Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fluctuated in the public consciousness ever since Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in 1927. However, the current fixation with the technology has become a ridiculous obsession in the modern zeitgeist. The latest chapter in the Mission Impossible franchise capitalizes on that fear. Covert ops agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) finds himself combating a formidable enemy called “The Entity” – a hyper-advanced, sentient computer program that keeps evolving with all-encompassing control.

Making your “big bad” an intangible algorithm is a pretty amorphous construct on which to base an entire picture. Therefore writers Erik Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie (who also directed the film) fabricate the narrative around securing an artifact. More specifically, two separate keys that individually look like a crucifix. When the two halves are combined, they can unlock and master the Entity’s source code. This is the MacGuffin that everyone wants.

Ethan is again aided by members of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) are back. A skillful and sexy (surprise!) pickpocket named Grace (Hayley Atwell) becomes a new addition. Returning from Fallout is black-market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis, a.k.a. “The White Widow” (Vanessa Kirby), and her brother Zola (Frederick Schmidt). They’re all facing off against the Entity’s henchman, a human antagonist named Gabriel (Esai Morales), and his ruthless assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff). Gabriel has access to the world’s most powerful supercomputer, a force of technological nature.

First things first, let’s cite the problems. The production is (1) too long and (2) leaves the audience hanging. It’s 163 minutes, and still can’t provide a proper conclusion. These complaints are a familiar refrain for summer 2023. Fast X and Across the Spider-Verse were hampered by the same failings. That’s not necessarily a deal breaker. I loved the latter, hated the former. Now comes Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. At least that ungainly title announces upfront that we aren’t getting a complete saga. In this case, it doesn’t matter. Here’s why.

The story is irrelevant. This isn’t a movie about plot. It’s simply an excuse to show a series of stunts presented with visual panache. Honestly, I can’t recall the blasted details in any of the entries in this franchise. However, I do remember the breathtaking stunts of the central protagonist Tom Cruise, er … uh … I mean Ethan Hunt. In that vein, each subsequent installment surpasses the one prior. Ok, maybe episode 2 is worse than the first, and perhaps Fallout is slightly better than Dead Reckoning. That iconic bathroom brawl with CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill) secures its status as the best entry. Nevertheless, those are trivial debates.

The Mission: Impossible film series has never aspired to great art. It’s all about the action set pieces. Who can forget the seminal vault heist using cable drops in the original 1996 movie? Ethan climbs the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Ghost Protocol, catches a flight from outside the plane in Rogue Nation, and attempts a high altitude, low opening (HALO) parachute jump in Fallout. In Dead Reckoning, it could have been the moment when Ethan rides a motorcycle down a ramp off a Norwegian cliff and then skydives into safety. Driving a vintage yellow Fiat 500 through Rome and down the Spanish Steps is a memorable car chase. But the pièce de résistance is when Gabriel blows up a bridge just as the Orient Express crosses it. Ethan and Grace have to climb through multiple vertically suspended railcars as each falls one by one down into the water below. It’s the most fantastic sequence of this year. I was ready to sit for another three hours to see Part Two immediately. In the meantime, I’d watch Part One again.

07-10-23