Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 💥🏍 (NO SPOILERS!) REVIEW:

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. Whereas the first four Mission Impossible films each had a different director, five, six, and now seven are all helmed by Christopher McQuarrie. With this seventh installment being the first half of a two parter set to bring Ethan Hunt’s story to a close, Tom Cruise proves once again that he will go to extraordinarily dangerous lengths to provide movie fans with a truly epic summer action blockbuster experience. Cruise gives yet another fabulous performance as IMF agent Ethan Hunt both in regards to the death defying stunts and the dramatic aspects. By now, it is common knowledge that Cruise performs his own stunts. In Dead Reckoning-Part One, Cruise pulls off some of the most jaw dropping, awe inspiring, and immensely impressive stunts of not just this franchise, but the man’s entire career. One can argue that he’s showing off by now, however, all of the incredible feats that Cruise accomplishes work so well because of their inherent importance to the story.

When it comes to the co-stars, there is a healthy mix of noteworthy supporting characters, new and returning alike. The dynamic duo of IMF Technician Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and senior intelligence operative Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) has never been better, as the back and forth between those two and Hunt is sharp and always snappy. There are a few scenarios in which the three of them have to stop a time sensitive threat. The manner in which they have to adjust their ways of tackling said threat changes rapidly, keeping the viewer in suspense. A very welcome new addition to the series is Hayley Atwell’s Grace who has an energetic presence and excellent chemistry with Cruise’s Hunt. As opposed to more recent blockbusters that pair a female co-star with the lead male hero, this unlikely pairing feels totally organic, making for playful and unpredictable banter.

Also returning is Rebecca Ferguson as MI6 operative Ilsa Faust who is just as badass and strong-willed as she was in Rogue Nation and Fallout. Vanessa Kirby’s White Widow is another welcome return as she gets a lot more to do here than she did in Fallout. Topping off the terrific strong female supporting characters is Pom Klementieff as the villain’s right hand woman, Paris. Pom gets quite a few moments to shine in the action, particularly during a close quarters hand to hand brawl with Cruise. After being absent from the past five installments, Henry Czerny as Director of the MIF Eugene Kittridge comes back to the series in a way that purposefully serves the story rather than being a vessel for lazy references or cheap nostalgia bait.

This film has a far different antagonist from the previous entries, as the nature of this threat has to do with Artificial Intelligence. There are a slew of different major world governments on the hunt for a certain macGuffin that would grant the holder access to this AI “Entity,” which makes for a timely plot device that fits in the context of our world today as well as the super-advanced spy/espionage universe of Mission: Impossible. Esai Morales plays Gabriel, a new villain who shares a past with Ethan Hunt before his IMF days. This character won’t be everyone’s favorite MI villain, but he works extremely well for this story and is always one step ahead of Ethan in ways that are distinct enough from baddies in the other films.

Clocking in at a daunting 163 minutes, the movie goes at a surprisingly rapid pace that blends the exhilarating action quite well with the dramatic character moments and tension filled conversations. The train sequence that was heavily teased in the trailers is one of the most impressive extended action scenes in any of these films, as there are several components and obstacles in which the characters must go through, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat at all times. Fraser Taggart’s cinematography matched with Christopher McQuarrie’s slick direction make this a beautiful movie to look at with some genuinely unbelievable shots, specifically during the adrenaline fueled stunt set pieces. Lorne Balfe composes another pulse pounding score, one that seamlessly gels together drums and bass to thrilling effect.

Being a part one, the film does a fine job at not falling into the trap of turning into an overlong trailer for the second part. It feels individual while naturally leaving some unanswered questions and incomplete story beats open for part two. The movie can be quite dense at times and its only real setback is some clunkiness regarding exposition dialogue. This demands to be seen on the biggest screen with the loudest sound system, so a Dolby, IMAX, or even Screen X viewing is the way to go. Overall, sporting an all-star ensemble cast of both energetic new and returning characters, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning-Part One is another white knuckled summer thrill ride with breathtaking stunt work that further solidifies Tom Cruise and director

Christopher McQuarrie as a winning partnership for this franchise.

This review is dedicated to the memory of Philip Matthew Quiambao Sibayan, a fellow enthusiastic film buff and friend who tragically passed away recently. He had so much passion, love, and energy for action blockbuster films and no doubt would’ve loved this movie. Baruch dayan ha'emet. May his memory be a blessing

🕯