Blockbuster Action Overcomes Long Runtime

Tom Cruise battles terrorists, arms dealers, and a ruthless AI in an action-packed but long and somewhat predictable sequel. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One doesn’t reach the helicopter-swerving heights of the superb last installment. This time around we get submarine warfare, Venice, and unstoppable train settings with a lot of running around in between. The IMF team faces their greatest challenge with an adversary that can literally calculate every move. It gets a bit exhausting. The lack of surprises and several questionable plot holes are detrimental, but Cruise is a guaranteed commodity in delivering blockbuster popcorn cinema.

A Russian nuclear attack submarine traverses the icy arctic depths on a top secret exercise. It carries a special cargo with terrifying capabilities. The Entity is the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence. The officers gloat about their superiority until an unexpected blip appears on the radar.

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) waits in the darkness for a nervous courier. He receives a self-destructing package with a memorable refrain. CIA Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) needs the IMF immediately. A former associate of Hunt’s has half of an object that must be recovered at all costs. Its counterpart is equally important, but the location remains unknown. Hunt must secure this first vital piece before finding the other. There’s another interesting wrinkle. No one knows the completed device’s purpose.

The IMF Reunited

Image via Paramount

Ethan rides into the Arabian desert seeking Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). A bounty of $50 million dollars has been placed on her head. What has she gotten herself into? A legion of the world’s deadliest mercenaries are also in pursuit. Ethan and Ilsa have a complex relationship. Are they friends or lovers?

Kittridge has a high stakes meeting with the president’s national security advisor (Cary Elwes). Intelligence has uncovered a black market exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport. Kittridge acknowledges the IMF’s existence for the first time. Ethan, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) are immediately dispatched. The situation gets complicated when a wily thief (Hayley Atwell) makes her duplicitous move. The IMF adapts but a brief glimpse of a new player changes the game completely. Ethan hasn’t seen the vicious Gabriel (Esai Morales) since he murderously altered his life decades ago.

Related: Here’s Every Mission: Impossible Movie, Ranked

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One preys on a familiar fear, what happens when an AI achieves sentience and stops taking orders from its human masters. The Entity, depicted by a blue light cube of algorithmic processes, is supremely formidable. Nothing electronically connected can be trusted. The voice in your earpiece and security monitors are easily faked. But it’s the psychological manipulation that proves the most effective. The Entity knows what Ethan values the most.

A Friend or Lover?

Image via Paramount Pictures

Director/co-writer Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow) doesn’t get visually complacent on his third Mission: Impossible outing. The action scenes are incredible and worth the price of admission. Everything from the underwater open to the spectacular train climax is brilliantly shot. Practical and CGI effects are seamlessly blended with slick editing. It’s obvious that McQuarrie wants to surpass the scope and scale of the previous films.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is cut from the 10 pages and a bang screenwriting doctrine. McQuarrie envisions monster action scenes, and then creates a path to link them together. I can buy the entity is pretty much omniscient and omnipotent. What makes little sense is how the IFM, and everyone on their tail, keeps bumping into each other. They don’t have the Entity’s abilities but continuously show up to thwart its plans. This is especially evident in a head-scratching second act. Logistical problems arise in connecting the many dots.

Related: Mission Impossible: All Movies in the Franchise, Ranked by Box Office Gross

Ethan spends an inordinate amount of time running at top speed like a gazelle. Cruise gallops on rooftops, through the airport, and the streets of Venice with a smoky, silhouette background. I love a good foot chase, but the sprinting around unfortunately gets old in a film that clocks 2 hours and 45 minutes. McQuarrie’s goal is to show that Cruise is fit as a fiddle at 61. That’s already understood from him pummeling baddies. We didn’t need an actual marathon as part of the story.

A Welcome Addition to Mission Impossible

Paramount Pictures

Hayley Atwell and a bad-assed Pom Klementieff, who plays a French assassin in league with Gabriel, are welcome additions. Atwell nails the WTF have I gotten myself into moments. She’s razor sharp and tough, but also realizes the depth of her predicament. Aligning with Ethan is the only way to survive. Klementieff snickers and sneers like a savage as she doles out wicked punishment. They are the most entertaining characters.

Part One acknowledges a cliffhanger ending. The IMF objective, easily deduced in the beginning, is at last revealed for next summer’s finale. The film could have been much shorter and achieved the same goals. The filler isn’t unwatchable but honestly wears thin. The good news is Cruise and McQuarrie haven’t lost the vital entertainment factor. The action scenes rule. They’re not on par with Mission: Impossible – Fallout but certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a Tom Cruise and Skydance production. It will have a July 12th theatrical release from Paramount Pictures.

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