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A Review of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)”

 

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Mission Impossible is one of those franchises that started rough but got better as more entries were made. The previous entry, Mission Impossible Fallout, might be one of the best action movies ever made. Of course, I was massively hyped for the next entry but I had a slight worry when I heard it was going to split into parts. Does the Mission Impossible franchise continue to cruise upwards or this time a mission failure?

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Let’s start with the reason that many watch this franchise, the action and stunts. Tom Cruise continues to be one of the few proper action stars as he does dangerous stunts for our entertainment. This entry is no exception as he rides a motorbike off a cliff, speed gliding and does a fight sequence on a train reminiscent of the first film. Tom doing it for real, makes the sequence feel more real and it certainly shows in the way these scenes are shot. In terms of action set pieces, the airport scene is incredibly tense with how many groups trying to mess or hunt the IMF. The Rome car chase is a thrilling 20 minutes of pure adrenaline and comedic joy. The 3rd act with the train is an awesome, stellar and gripping delight to watch.  Lorne Balfe returns from Mission Impossible Fallout to do the score for the film and he delivers yet again. His score makes every action scene more impactful and the emotional stuff hit harder.

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All the returning actors continue to give great performances but the new character Grace played by Hayley Atwell is a highlight. I appreciate that she isn’t an agent like Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).  She is an amazing thief that adds a bit of chaos to everything while not being truly loyal to the hero or villain’s cause. Grace is not accustomed to the shenanigans of the IMF so she adds an interesting POV to what is going on in the plot. There is also great chemistry between Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell which makes their scenes together really enjoyable. Henry Czerny returns as Kittridge from the first Mission Impossible and he is still great as he was 27 years ago. The weird rivalry and antagonism between his character and Ethan are fun to watch. There is a big MacGuffin in the plot called “The Entity” which is A.I. and this is so different for Mission Impossible which has it be a bomb or virus. The Entity is quite scary because it is very fitting for the time we currently live in and feels quite possible in real life. The Entity feels like the real villain.

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The human villains, Gabriel (Esai Morales) and Paris (Pom Klementieff) are sadly quite disappointing. It was great to have villains that aren’t agents going evil or arms dealers like in past films. Gabriel even has a connection to Ethan’s past which makes him a more personal villain. Unfortunately, they aren’t explored much whatsoever and Gabriel himself doesn’t become truly involved until over halfway through the film. Paris feels like a James Bond henchman and Gabriel ends up feeling like a person for Ethan to punch rather than a compelling antagonist.  The stunts and action are great but they are a little underwhelming when compared to how amazing the stunts were in Mission Impossible Fallout. It seems Fallout set the bar so high that it was too tough to top it.

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The script is also a bit weak. There are so many times when the dialogue is just characters mentioning “The Key” all the time. I wish they cut back on this repetition or rephrased some of the dialogue. I also think the intro scene is dumb for reasons I won’t state but it really shouldn’t have been in the movie. On that note, this being a part 1 does result in a non-complete story. The ending is not as painful as Dune or Spiderverse where it felt like it ended midway through a story. Here, the end feels conclusive for the most part and leaves you at least partially satisfied. It is just clear that many lingering plot threads weren’t settled. I am not a big fan of splitting movies into parts so I hope this is not a trend we bring back.

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Overall, it is genuinely crazy how the Mission Impossible franchise is still this great 7 movies in. Compared to other long-running franchises, this one still managed to keep me excited for more. I am incredibly hyped for part 2 and can’t wait to see Tom Cruise’s iconic run again!

 


 

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