Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Review

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Theatrical Poster

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Rob Delaney
Running Time: 163 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In the closing line for my review of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, I’d expressed a hope that if Tom Cruise was to return, then all he’d need was for “someone to hook him up with Gareth Evans for Mission: Impossible 7”. I recall writing that line only half heartedly expecting we’d get another dose of Ethan Hunt’s globetrotting, increasingly death-defying adventures, as the expectation for a Hollywood star approaching 60 to continue in a role which has come to be defined by its physicality seemed like an unreasonable ask. Thankfully, it’s Tom Cruise, and if anyone is to defy expectations of what can be achieved in a film industry who’s action genre has become almost exclusively populated by superheroes and fast cars (and ‘family’), then he’s the man to do it. So, while Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One doesn’t see the star team up with Gareth Evans, he does reunite with director Christopher McQuarrie.

As a director McQuarrie got off to a shaky start helming the Mission: Impossible franchise, taking over from Brad Bird after 2011’s Ghost Protocol, which kind of acted like a series reboot and remains the franchise standout. McQuarrie’s crack at the series with 2015’s Rogue Nation was a serviceable entry, however from an action movie perspective it committed the cardinal sin of front loading its most impressive action sequence, rather than saving if for the finale (in this case, having Cruise legitimately clinging on for dear life to the side of an airborne plane as a pre-credits sequence!). Being the first director to be given a 2^nd crack at helming an instalment, McQuarrie returned for 2018’s Fallout, and had thankfully taken notes from his M:I debut, delivering an entry that understood the importance of escalating set pieces, as well as offering a number of subtle nods to the original.

Proving himself to be a filmmaker that learns from experience, it’s not a surprise that producer and star Tom Cruise has decided to stick with McQuarrie as director for the latest instalment, which involves a plot so epic it’s spread across 2 parts. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One landed in 2023, and while the original plan was for both parts to be filmed back-to-back, the COVID-19 pandemic put rest to those intentions, meaning that as of the time of writing Part Two is still in production. Clocking in at 163 minutes, it’s perhaps a testament to the pairing of McQuarrie and Cruise as director and star that the time flies by. In a climate where action franchises increasingly look to justify their existence with extended runtimes, it can be a fine line between epic and bloated (John Wick 4, I’m looking at you), so it’s a relief to say that M:I – DRPO (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) squarely belongs in the former.

The plot involves the most perilous mission yet, as Cruise and co. (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson all return) take it on themselves to put a stop to an A.I. program that’s gone rogue. Having disappeared into the cloud during a test, and displaying worrying signs of becoming sentient, the worlds reliance on digital platforms is suddenly faced with a reality where nothing online can be trusted, be it intelligence information or social media posts. The only way to stop it involves retrieving a pair of interlocking keys that can provide access to the programs source code, allowing it to be destroyed, or in the case of almost every government in the world – be controlled. However nobody knows exactly what the keys unlock to reveal this source code, and put in a situation where even their own government can’t be trusted, the team are against the clock and virtually everyone they come across to find the keys.

The fear of A.I. is a timely one, especially considering the feverous speculation surrounding what the rapid advances around A.I. could mean for humanity that are playing out at the time of M:I – DRPO’s release. Portraying the threat of computer programs onscreen though has always been a challenge for the action genre, with everyone from Timothy Olyphant in 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard to Johnny Depp in 2014’s Transcendence struggling to make a truly memorable character responsible for some sort of digital threat. Thankfully M:I – DRPO navigates the issue with the casting of Esai Morales (Never Back Down: No Surrender), a mysterious figure from Cruise’s past who’s willingly working for the program, and is accompanied by a scene stealing bodyguard played by Pom Klementieff (Mantis from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise).

Together the pair deliver a legitimate sense of danger to any scenes they appear in, with Morales always one step ahead thanks to the program’s predictive capabilities, and Klementieff bringing a chaotic physicality to many of the scenes she appears in (a vehicular chase and alley way fight are highlights). Another MCU alumnus along for the ride is Hayley Atwell (who’s played Peggy Carter across multiple MCU titles), playing a professional pickpocket who gets in way over her head, ultimately finding herself reluctantly teamed with Cruise in order to survive. Before that though she amusingly undermines Cruise’s capabilities through a series of events that see her constantly escaping from his guardianship, and serve to show off the latest entries action pedigree.

We’ve seen vehicular chase sequences in several of the M:I entries, however McQuarrie and Cruise are clearly still confident enough to include one here, presumably believing they can top everything that’s come before. It’s fair to say their confidence isn’t misplaced. A chase through the streets of Rome encompasses a multitude of motorbikes, cars, and an armoured vehicle that’s a frantic masterclass in how to film and edit a car chase, eschewing any gratuitous slow motion, and delivering several edge of the seat moments. The beats may be familiar, but when they’re delivered with such skill and bravado as this, it acts as a reminder that when it comes to action, you really can never have too much of a good thing.

Like the previous entry McQuarrie once again strikes a healthy balance between the intrigue and action, further edging the series to coming full circle with certain nods to the 1996 original. For the first time since Cruise’s first outing we have Henry Czerny (Scream VI) returning as the closest thing to the head of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), and Cruise’s original reason for joining the team in the first place underpins the narrative in ways we can expect to see expanded on in Part Two. It feels like there’s a very subtle handing over of the torch starting to take place in M:I – DRPO, and while nothing is expressed explicitly, certain scenes indicate that if Cruise isn’t always able to hang off helicopters and the sides of planes, it doesn’t necessarily mean the series won’t be around.

For now though, he’s still very much game, and the mounting action set pieces culminate in a thrilling chase sequence that sees Cruise attempting to catch up with the Orient Express steam train on a motorbike, with naturally the odds of success almost being insurmountable (or to put it in other words – impossible). It would be a spoiler to go into any of the highlights here, but needless to say it’s one of the best action sequences committed to film in recent years, encompassing an insane motorcycle stunt, and a literal cliff hanger of a finale. It’s almost as if McQuarrie thought it was time to put those naysayers to rest who always complained the train set finale of the original was a let-down, so decided to put together the most bombastic railway themed action finale that could be conjured, and do it all for real. It’s a joy to watch.

There are some minor niggles with the 7^th instalment, like any time the rogue A.I. program is discussed the dialogue tends to repeat the same points as any of the previous times it’s been mentioned, and there’s no standout fight sequence like the bathroom fight we got in Fallout (a bridge set fight in Venice that sees Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Ferguson take on Esai Morales feels surprisingly superfluous). However these are literally just that – minor niggles. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a reminder of what an action blockbuster should be like – consistently entertaining, adrenaline pumping fun that reminds you why you’re a fan of the genre in the first place. Bring on Part Two.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8.5/10