‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE’ Review: Another Action Master Class

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE

Rated PG-13, 2 hours and 43 minutes

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Cary Elwes

A curious thing about the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise: just when we thought international super spy Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) arc had reached a natural conclusion in FALLOUT, the filmmakers – perhaps stealing inspiration from their witty, wily protagonist – went rogue, surprising us with plans for two more films in their arsenal. And a two-parter at that! Co-writer/ director Christopher McQuarrie’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE is an exhilarating spectacular filled with breathtaking stunts, cunning intrigue, compelling stakes and a breakneck drive that leaves your jaw on the floor.

In the film’s prologue, we’re introduced to three crucial elements: A Russian submarine, the “Sevastopol;” a two-part, interlocking cruciform key (a metaphor for the absolution Ethan perpetually seeks); and this chapter’s timely and terrifying Big Bad, “The Entity,” a dangerous AI that can only be stopped with the aforementioned key. During a training exercise in the Bering Sea, The Entity becomes sentient, outsmarting the humans and their fail-safes, sinking the sub and fracturing ownership of the key’s pieces across the globe.

Ethan is tasked by his crustily cantankerous IMF handler Kittridge (Henry Czerny) to reunite the two halves and return the key so the U.S. government can control The Entity. While countries want to weaponize the AI, Ethan knows he’ll need to destroy it. But first, he’ll have to re-assemble his elite team – Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), who already holds one part of the key. As agents Briggs (Shea Wiggam) and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) tail the crew through Dubai, Rome and Venice, Ethan’s race to stop the ghost in the machine has him crossing paths with a ghost from his own past: Gabriel (Esai Morales), an angel of death who is now the Entity’s ruthless, hired muscle.

Similar to FALLOUT’s theme of Ethan’s actions coming back to haunt him, DEAD RECKONING PART ONE explores the choices he’s made and the lives he’s endangered (particularly those of his female teammates), all of which have led him to this particular late-in-life career moment. McQuarrie and screenwriter Erik Jendresen pull inspiration from the 60s-era TV show as well as the decades-spanning features with assured verve, vigor and insight. This chapter owes a significant debt to Brian De Palma’s first MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE film, double-downing on everything from its characters (like Kittridge, and Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), who is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave’s Max) to its aesthetics (like canted angles, fog and the finale on a train). Even its tonal intensity reverberates in the same key with its searing hot sting of deception and paranoia.

As with every MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film (especially McQuarrie’s), the action’s scale and scope have grown exponentially. And Cruise, ever the beloved mad man he is, shows no signs of slowing down, increasing the stunts magnitude and force. The car chase, where Ethan and spry thief Grace (Hayley Atwell) are forced to drive handcuffed together in a tiny yellow Fiat on the slippery cobblestone streets of Rome, has an air of Buster Keaton-style slapstick. Ethan’s close-quarters alley fight with Gabriel’s deliriously unhinged henchwoman Paris (Pom Klementieff) feels claustrophobic, shading the characters’ psyches through cinematographer Fraser Taggart’s bare lighting. However, the Biggest Action Set Pieces are reserved for the end, including a motorcycle base jump off a cliff (you know, the one that made headlines during lockdown) and a gasp-and-palm-sweat-inducing sequence with a train plummeting off a bridge car after car. McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton’s crackling pace keeps in time with the rhythm of the immersive sound design and Lorne Balfe’s character-driven score.

For as deviously epic as the stunts are, the film also carves out time for intimate moments where the characters’ humanity and relationships shine. Luther’s always been a guiding force in Ethan’s life, but he blossoms further as his pal’s voice of reason – a Jiminy Cricket-like sage. Rhames gets to show off more of a softer side in his performance than ever before. Dialogue-free vignettes between Cruise and Ferguson, whether they’re sharing a platonic hug on a rooftop or holding hands on a gondola in Venice, are tender stolen moments. Atwell’s a breath of fresh air in the team dynamic, full of effervescence and resourcefulness. Morales, with a piercing, steely glare and suave silver fox looks, makes for an unrelenting, unflinching foe for Cruise.

That said, it’s evident this is constructed as a part one, as there’s a distinct lack of closure. Time will tell if the loose ends will be tied up in PART TWO. But the fascinating premise – that the high tech the gang has relied on for decades rebels against them – shows promise for an expansive two-film tale. Now that much of the exposition is out of the way, the field is wide open for the filmmakers to fly it down from cruising altitude and stick the landing.

Grade: A-

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE opens in theaters on July 12.