‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One’: The Franchise Isn’t Perfect Anymore

By Lindsay Traves | Film | July 11, 2023 |

By Lindsay Traves | Film | July 11, 2023 |

“See you at the movies,” Tom Cruise crooned from atop a small red airplane some time around the release of Top Gun: Maverick. He was letting us know that he was in the throes of shooting the next Mission: Impossible movie, assuring audiences (and probably the whole industry) that cinema was alive and well, especially with him at the helm. Cruise, notorious for the death-defying stunts he performs for his “Mission” franchise is back with more movie magic, performing incredible feats, assembling an incredible cast, but falling victim to Infinity War syndrome.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One had a catch from the get-go: it informed us all that the story wouldn’t end when the credits rolled. The first in the series to be in two parts suggested something big was coming, and other elements of the film suggest it’s leading to a finale. Though Cruise insists he wants to do these movies when he is in his 80s, the nature of this story suggests he might do so from the backseat. Could you imagine?

It’s been some time since Fallout, and Hunt and his team are back to protect the world from another MacGuffin. This time, the world is vulnerable to an out-of-control sentient AI that’s using its technology to manipulate humanity to do its bidding. With it unleashed, world leaders scramble to control it so they may achieve ultimate power. Tasked with locating the keys to “The Entity” and finding its physical location, Hunt and his crew are forced to decide what’s more important: their mission to deliver the goods to their leaders or to save the world from an unchecked and massively powerful AI. If the subject seems unimaginative, it’s because it is. The same sort of “we can’t trust anything not analog and an AI is using all available tech to manipulate us to do its bidding” was mostly covered in Eagle Eye, and now that many of us have exposure to AI due to its recent ubiquity, the techno-mumbo-jumbo feels extra silly.

While this installment’s baddie is a faceless AI (that apparently has a physical presence that manifests as winamp animation), the real antagonist comes from Ethan’s past via the appearance of Gabriel (Esai Morales). Hunt is stunned when he sees the mysterious Gabriel while trying to capture the first part of the key, causing him to insist the team abort their mission. Gabriel is someone from Hunt’s former life, from a moment shared in quick glimpses involving them, an injured woman, and apparent criminal activity. What makes this story feel like a finale is that the film takes us back to Ethan’s past, before he joined the IMF and became a rogue whippersnapper keeping Kittridge (Henry Czerny) up at night. Hunt came to the IMF after criminal activity landed him in hot water, and his skills landed him in the sights of the force. While Hunt keeps his familiar team of misfits as close together as he can, he also drags in Grace (Hayley Atwell), a criminal (not unlike Mission: Impossible II’s Nyah). Grace was simply hired to help lift the same key Hunt and his crew were chasing, but she’s quickly roped into the mix, into de facto Impossible Mission Force training, and regaled with anecdotes about how the others, including Hunt, were recruited into the IMF after getting busted for some dubious activity.

Though the second part of Dead Reckoning should answer the first part’s questions, so much of this story feels like a finale for Hunt. Atwell is set up to be pulled into the force just like Hunt apparently was (in what feels like a flimsy retcon), and the sometimes somber tone and team losses suggest a buildup to an end. The franchise has always been about chasing world-ending MacGuffins but this time, the mysterious “anti-god” has layers, parts, and the suggestion of an unnamed leader. Gabriel is a mid-baddie at best, but his connection to Ethan’s past suggests he’s either a franchise Big Bad or that some reveal will bring us an Even Bigger Villain. That said, the Infinity War and Thanos didn’t end the MCU, so this might not be the end either, just a major cinematic event.

The issue with this installment isn’t so much its finale fever, it’s the finale fever necessitating some unwelcome additions instead of an excellent Mission: Impossible story. At an event once, Cruise and director, Chris McQuarrie, discussed how they created these films by crafting the stunts then working backwards to create a perfect story. I’m afraid this is the first time the series (though McQuarrie only took the reins as of Rogue Nation) the story has felt as secondary as it apparently is.

But, with the reflecting on OG Hunt comes some thrilling additions like the return of Kittridge, more IMF lore, more sleight of hand, and a cast stacked with returning favorites like Isla (Rebecca Ferguson) and The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby). (Also, some of the Top Gun: Maverick gang shows up because why not?). And, of course, there are the stunts — Hunt leaping off a cliff on a motorcycle, driving a hilarious car around Italy with one hand, and fighting on a train the way he did in the first movie. Of course, they’re incredible, Cruise quite certainly still has a firm grasp on it and he delivers unreal combat scenes, death-defying jumps, and the finale action sequence glances at so many comparable action movie scenes as if to say, “anything you can do, I can do better.” The rest of the cast is mostly amazing, Ferguson reminding us why she became a returning favorite and Pom Klementieff rapidly earning her stripes, though Atwell seems to fall behind.

Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One is difficult to assess for the very reason that like the rest of the franchise, it’s a near-perfect action movie. The stunts are amazing, Hunt and his gang are consistent, there’s a balance of dread and humor, and the stakes always feel impossibly high. By being imperfect, this film might lag behind its franchise’s installments, but it’s nothing if not a wonderful, watchable, and exciting action thrill ride. Maybe I’m not ready for any suggestion that Hunt will sit in the back seat, maybe I prefer my accepted Hunt backstory, or maybe Cruise and McQuarrie set too high a bar when they made a worthwhile sequel to Top Gun, but for whatever reason this is somehow the only Mission: Impossible movie that doesn’t earn a perfect score. Making a perfect movie is difficult, but this isn’t Mission: Difficult, it’s Mission: Impossible.

Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters July 12, 2023