Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

 

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

 

8/10

Starring

Tom Cruise

Ving Rhames

Simon Pegg

Hayley Atwell

 

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

 

Leave it to Mission Impossible to kick off with an opening scene that spooks you and locks you in for the rest of the film. From the start, it’s clear this is a two-parter, which is one thing I dislike about some films—why make it so long, just to let me know I have another long movie to see some years after? That said, Hunt and his team deliver an exciting story that makes me look forward to the second part. The ending is satisfying and sets up the next installment perfectly. If all goes well, the second part should be out within a year—assuming the Writers’ and SAG strikes don’t delay it further.

Ethan Hunt is back with his team for another seemingly impossible mission. This seventh installment in the series continues from Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and like all its predecessors, it delivers magnificent stunts, impeccably edited scenes, and breathtaking cinematography. True to form, the film makes use of multiple stunning locations, as the series is known for never staying in one place for long.

This time, Hunt’s team is up against a rogue AI called The Entity. From the start of the film, we see what the AI is capable of, and now it’s up to Hunt and his team to take on the impossible task of stopping it.

Their mission? To acquire a key, which we learn early on is split into two parts. One half is with Ethan’s friend Ilsa Faust, who also has a bounty on her head. Ethan is tasked with retrieving her half and, with his team, securing the other half to return to the IMF.

If you’ve been following the series, you’ll remember Ilsa has been working with Ethan and his team since Rouge Nation (MI5) and returned in Fallout (MI6). Retrieving the key from Ilsa isn’t easy—not because she’s unwilling to help, but because the bounty hunters after her are relentless. Before starting his mission, Ethan infiltrates an intelligence meeting to learn what the key is meant to unlock. It turns out the AI, originally designed to sabotage systems, has gone sentient and hacked into all the world’s major defense systems. Every global power is now aware of this rogue AI and is racing to control it. The key is believed to hold some sort of control over the AI, though no one knows exactly how it works or what it does.

From the start, Ethan is warned not to go rogue as he often does, but he has his own thoughts on who should control the key—and the ultimate power it represents.

In the end, this film offers an amazing plot, great twists and turns, and jaw-dropping stunts. It’s an enjoyable ride from start to finish. Hunt’s team is bigger, and the mission isn’t over yet. I can’t wait for the second part, which will be the eighth film in the series. Even at a time when movies are struggling at the box office, the Mission: Impossible series continues to perform remarkably well.