Rent Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Bruce Geller (based on the television series created by), Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Cary Elwes
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
Verdict
This franchise's signature is big action set pieces. This movie certainly delivers that, though there aren't any standouts like I've come to expect. That or this has set the bar too high. While this has a story that's complicated enough that you think it has depth, the plot only gets in the way of the real draw; Tom Cruise performing wild stunts. If you want a movie that requires little more than staring at the screen mouth agape, this is it. If you're like me and prefer a meaningful story, you'll be disappointed. The stakes and emotional moments are perfunctory at best, cliche at worst. Ethan's not trying to prevent disaster, he's trying to obtain a key because the speculation is that someone will buy it for nefarious purposes and likely set up a plot for another sequel.
Skip it.
Review
This is the seventh Mission: Impossible movie, and the direct sequel should premiere in 2025.
This opens with a scene on a submarine. The crew encounter another submarine that defies convention. It's all a prologue to the real movie, but it does introduce us to the key that characters will be chasing throughout the movie. That's what ties the scenes together; the key to a super powerful AI.
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| Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt |
This rogue AI is the villain of the movie. It's certainly easy, but part of what boosts any hero is a good villain. We just don't get that. We do get a lot of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) action scenes. In just the first half of the movie, he's shooting thugs in the desert, infiltrating the National Intelligence agency, and setting up a buy at the airport.
The airport sequence is fun as we get the entire team, Ethan, Benji (Simon Pegg), and Luther (Ving Rhames). There's plenty of tension as Ethan searches for the buyer and encounters a pickpocket while Benji defuses a bomb.
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| Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt |
There's a big action sequence in Italy, and that's what this movie is. It's certainly fun to watch Ethan being chased through Italy. Grace (Hayley Atwell) is his counterpart here, the same pickpocket he met earlier in the airport. They keep running into each other, and she keeps escaping. The struggle is for the key, but that's secondary. You watch this for the intense scenes. The plot just gets in the way. It's purpose isn't to create an engrossing narrative. The plot's purpose is to set up the next action sequence.
This movie has plenty of tension. Ethan is out for revenge, multiple parties want this key to the greatest weapon ever created, there's double crossing, plenty of secrets, and this movie is always hurtling towards the next scene and destination. But it's not a movie you watch for the story, and that's what I want out of a movie. This is mindless entertainment. Ethan is fighting to make sure the key doesn't all into the wrong hands, but if he had an actual adversary with goals or an agenda, it would be easier to root for Ethan. We're not rooting for him to save the world. We're rooting for him to get the key in the advent that a villain obtains it and wants to create a plot for another movie.
It's enjoyable, but the action scenes fail to crack the best list ranking behind, among others, the Kremlin infiltration of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the now classic Langley heist in Mission: Impossible, the helicopter chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and the Dubai skyscraper climb (also in Ghost Protocol). The train scene towards the end of this movie is certainly intense, but I feel like I've already seen it courtesy of the Uncharted / Nathan Drake video games.
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