Dead Reckoning keeps the franchise flying high!
Death-defying stunt. Fight and chase. Team regroup. Death-defying stunt. Fight and chase. Team regroup. Death-defying stunt. Fight and chase. Team regroup. Although repetitive, this formula has been successfully carrying the Mission: Impossible franchise forward. It’s now on its seventh film, Dead Reckoning – Part One. The newest film showcases, once again, the finest action stunt work choreography in the film industry. Although the franchise continues to steer away from the intricate spy work that the original television series and first few films featured, there’s no denying that with Tom Cruise on screen and Christopher McQuarrie in the director’s chair, a thrilling cinematic experience is guaranteed.
Cruise and McQuarrie have now teamed up for four (soon to be five) projects as actor and director, respectively, including three Mission: Impossible movies: Rogue Nation (2015), Fallout (2018), and now Dead Reckoning – Part One with Dead Reckoning – Part Two scheduled to come out in the next year or two, pending the outcome of the writers’ strike. McQuarrie previously penned numerous Cruise projects, so their familiarity with each other continues to yield exciting results. While Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) have been the only two characters that have appeared in every M:I film, McQuarrie’s films have mostly kept the same primary players. Those returning are Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow, and the special return of Henry Czerny, reprising the role of Eugene Kittridge from the first Mission: Impossible film.
In the aftermath of a tragic submarine operation testing a new powerful AI entity, government and independent powers around the world are attempting to seize the keys, literally, to the AI entity, which would wield near-world-controlling disruptive powers. The Impossible Mission Force (IMF) led by Ethan Hunt is once again working outside jurisdiction to obtain the keys and destroy the entity before any nation, or shadowy figure Gabriel (Esai Morales), can get a hold of it. McQuarrie gives us your classic MacGuffin-filled, world order threatening, criss-crossing baddies spy games plot line.
Even with a 2 hr 43 min run time, Dead Reckoning – Part One is well paced. The action set pieces are spaced out (per the repetitive formula mentioned above). There’s a fabulously elaborate car chase sequence midway through the film that’s ridiculously fun and energetic. The film’s finale is punctuated by an exhaustingly thrilling train sequence. And all the actors crank their charisma to the highest level. Esai Morales and Hayley Atwell are strong newcomers to the franchise, with Morales delivering a properly threatening, nihilistic presence, and Atwell bringing some great fish-out-of-water energy to the table. Meanwhile, bit players get a chance to chew on some scenery in their own limited screen time, including Shea Wigham as an IMF agent aiming to apprehend Hunt, always one step behind, and Rhames, finally getting more dialogue worthy of his acting caliber than multiple films of mostly throw-away one-liners akin to “One minute left, Ethan!”, “Almost there!”, and “We got your back, Ethan!”
McQuarrie and director of photography Fraser Taggart pay homage to 1996’s first Mission: Impossible, directed by Brian De Palma, through low angle close-ups. Elsewhere, the film has callbacks to the first film, like Hunt’s magic tricks, and, of course, the inclusion of Kittridge. More than any of the previous sequels, Dead Reckoning – Part One has an appreciation for De Palma’s work, demonstrated more through style than substance. Seeing more intricate infiltration and dangerous theft set pieces alongside the big stunts would be welcomed. The silent Langley vault sequence in the first Mission: Impossible remains a series highlight, as do the Kremlin break in and Burj Khalifa scaling scenes from M:I – Ghost Protocol. Those films weren’t without impressive daredevil stunts, but the variety of action and spycraft was greater than in the last few films. A reliance on face masks comes off as cheating, though Dead Reckoning – Part One finally addresses the hilarity of the craft to strong comedic effect. The hand-to-hand combat scenes are too long and too uninteresting. If there’s one area where Dead Reckoning drags, it’s within these fight scenes.
Mission: Impossible (1996) may be the pinnacle film of the franchise in terms of filmmaking and dramatic effect. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) is still the best action-spectacle of the series. Dead Reckoning – Part One falls somewhere in between, but that’s not a bad thing in a seven film series in which every single entry is immensely watchable, whether or not you consider each of them ‘good’ films. There’s still no better franchise to see in theaters. The action alone is worth the price of admission, and you get some humor, some memorable characters, and a few plot surprises. If the franchise is going to continue focusing on Cruise’s death-defying stunts above all other M:I aspects, then keeping the details to a minimum would work better, allowing the action to unfold for the first time with the first viewing, and not letting the trailers and behind-the-scenes videos spoil the fun. That’s a small suggestion, but a simple task, and far from impossible.
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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in Bay Area theaters Wednesday, July 12th.
