From 7/6/2023 press screening:
There have been some speculations that the two-parter "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning" would be the end of the journey of superspy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise, "Mission Impossible" series, "Edge of Tomorrow," "Oblivion"). To quote Cruise's own line in his other mega-blockbuster ("Top Gun: Maverick,"), "Maybe so, but not today."
That someday will come, but we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that it's not today, or next year, when 'Dead Reckoning Part Two' will premiere. Cruise IS 'Mission Impossible.' His passion for making movies meant for the big screen is palpable and it remains clear as day as no one else at his caliber has the kind of commitment to the craft and rare skills to perform death-defying stunts that even beat the best stunt performers in the world.
This time around, Ethan and crew, tech duo Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luthor Stickell (Ving Rhames, former MI6 operative and sharpshooter Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson, "The Greatest Showman"), are not infiltrating secret structures. The enemy is the Entity, a sentient artificial intelligence that has penetrated social media, communication, financial, banking, military and security systems at a global level.
Once infected, the AI could corrupt and manipulate data, distorting truth, creating or erasing history - which means you can't trust anything you see or hear - for anything digital or electronic, which these days, is everything. The enemy has no center; it's anywhere and everywhere. Imagine the implications. While the all-predicting element ventures out to more of a sci-fi territory, the all-knowing and all-seeing may not be that further from reality, with the mainstream proliferation of AI in the last year, as well as deep fakes.
The story takes the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) team to geographically diverse landscapes, from the Arabian desert storm to Abu Dhabi, Rome, Venice and majestic Austrian Alps. Ethan faces off with his old IMF Director from the very first movie, returning Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny). The way the encounter goes down is classically Mission Impossible trickery.
The sought-after device is a two-part keys, which purportedly would unlock the AI source code, and whoever has both pieces would have the ultimate power over the world. The faceless AI is represented in the flesh by someone from Ethan's past, Gabriel (Esai Morales), tagged along by one determined henchwoman, Paris, Pom Klementieff ("Avengers: Infinity War”).
A scrappy yet sophisticated pickpocketer, Grace (Hayley Atwell, "Captain America: The First Avenger"), is thrown into the mix, getting her hand on and off the key(s) through elaborate sleigh of hand and cat-and-mouse game with Ethan, the authorities and mercenaries.
Ethan is tested most when the AI targets his achilles heel, his loyalty to his friends and desire to save everyone. Everything comes to a blow when everyone shows up at the same party, hosted by an arms dealer known as the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby, "Mission Impossible: Fallout"). Even bigger blows are traded and blood is shed. Assuming this is the end of the road for one of the key players, it dishearteningly goes against the developments established prior.
The action set pieces are intense, tight, long and sprawling. The bomb-defusing scene at the airport elevates the tension even higher because it's dependent upon solving a puzzling riddle in minutes. The intensity is interspersed with a humorous exchange among the team.
The mini Fiat chase, where Ethan and Grace have to navigate narrow alleys and staircases filled with crowd and traffic while being handcuffed together, balances danger with banter and laughter. Cruise and Atwell have a terrific chemistry.
The singularly breathtaking scene is undoubtedly the motorcycle clifftop-jumping and parachuting. While lasting like a minute, the scene leading up to this, a quip between Benji and Ethan on how Ethan ends up driving through mountainous trails to get up to this very spot, and when he's told what needs to happen, is memorably hilarious.
Just when you think you've seen everything, trust me when I say you have not. There have been plenty of train stunts (most recently in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"), but the way the extended sequence is shot is utterly spectacular.
Razor-thin margin between the bodies and the top and sides of the tunnel, where a split second misstep would result in a dismembered demise. The runaway train has nowhere to go except heading toward a bridge ready to explode. The train cars have to be dismantled one by one while moving at a high speed. Ethan and Grace are racing up against crashing and tumbling cars - dangling and hanging on, sliding down, pulling up, leaping through remnants of fixtures. To top it off, the speed-flying is elegantly executed.
Cruise continues to amaze, making these impossible missions seem possible, and this time, amuse as well, with the ace addition of Atwell. Part Two can't come soon enough. In with the times and future-oriented with incomparable edge-of-your seat stunts, "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One" is invigorating and exhilarating beyond belief.