- Starring
- Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg
- Direction
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Rating
- PG-13
- Genre
- Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Release date
- July 11, 2023
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
In Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning, Tom Cruise, now 61 years of age, proves once again that he is the King of Action Flicks. As a side note, did you know that, in the event that he is killed or incapacitated while filming, Paramount Studios has a $100 million insurance policy on Cruise?
Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One
In the latest installment of the Mission Impossible saga, Ethan Hunt’s mission, should he choose to accept it, is to once again “go rogue” in order to save the world, this time from an artificial superintelligence known as The Entity. With few he can trust and the fate of humankind in the balance, can Ethan put his mysterious past behind him in time? We won’t know until June 28, 2024, when Part Two hits theaters with the (we hope) exciting conclusion.
The Mission Impossible films, even John Woo’s insufferably ostentatious MI:2, have always been solid action thrillers that serve up daring stunts and fabulous gadgets to put the Roger Moore Bond era to shame (if they ever include a Lotus that transforms into a submarine in one of these, I may explode in sheer delight). So it is with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One.
Channeling some magic from Top Gun: Maverick, the fact that these films are only now starting to hint at feeling as redundant as they are is a testament to what can be accomplished by serving up unpretentious narratives with universal themes. In this newest chapter, Tom Cruise et al. manage to take nearly the same plot from virtually all of the past films (and even some of the action set pieces – sandstorms and train fights) and puts a stylish and engaging veneer on it, giving us exactly what we want: more fist fights, more gun fights, more high-octane car chases, more technobabble, and more of Tom putting his life on the line to pucker producers’ butts and pay Katie Homes’s alimony check.
Unfortunately, it suffers slightly from a plot that is spread a bit thin over what will be two films. As a result, we get a number of redundant expositional scenes with characters sitting and rehashing (usually in hushed tones) plot points already discussed in the last sit-and-speak scene. While it makes logical sense for one character in the know to disseminate needed information to his own group, it does nothing to move the story along. Furthermore, several scenes (even action scenes) go on for just a beat or two too long. All of this serves to bloat the runtime by at least twenty minutes, robbing the film of the tight and economical spit and polish of previous installments, even if it is only petty theft.
Additionally, two of the film’s special effects jarringly appear to be models, and several cartoonishly convenient contrivances make the finale possible. Moreover, a handful of odd choices are made in the film, like not providing colored contact lenses for someone in an otherwise flawless MI mask. Â Fortunately, none of this does much to take away from the overall experience.
What’s more is that thanks to performances that are far better than the dialogue, as well as the unsung stars of this installment of Mission Impossible, namely cinematographer Fraser Taggart (John Wick: Chapter 2) and the music by Lorne Balfe (The Lego Batman Movie), even its weakest moments manage to keep the audience engaged. These two give director Christopher McQuarrie (MI: Fallout) just enough to work with to keep a semblance of motion and energy during moments that would otherwise bring the momentum to a crashing halt. McQuarrie then drops the clutch and the three launch the movie back into gear for another heart-pounding action sequence.
With a faceless villain whose ominous and everpresent nigh omniscience perpetually weighs on every understandably-paranoid decision made by the heroes, death-defying adrenaline-filled stunts, a narrative with no agenda other than to engage and entertain, and electrifying performances by every single actor and actress, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning is a mission that you absolutely need to accept.
ROLE MODELS IN MISSION IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING
Even though there are some brave female characters in the film, Ilsa’s loyalty goes no deeper than that of a single man. Additionally, Grace may get there by Part Two, but she’s not there yet.
- Ethan Hunt’s relentless pursuit of doing the right thing at any cost to himself but not at the expense of others is just about the menchiest.
- Benji and Luther’s faithful friendship with Ethan and their selfless heroism firmly place them in our Role Models section.
WOKE ELEMENTS
The movie does a great job of handling women in combat (except for Ilsa’s hurricanranas – it’s time for all movies to stop those), giving them force multipliers to make them a physical threat to larger and stronger men. Furthermore, they don’t make any one of them Supergirls or superior in every way to Ethan. Really refreshing.
- There is a single line in which one of the characters says that the next big war will be over our dwindling resources and shrinking land (i.e., climate change and the myth about dwindling fossil fuel resources).
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
18 comments
Ele
July 12, 2023 at 4:52 pm
Glad to hear it. I’ve really been looking forward to this.
James Carrick
July 12, 2023 at 5:37 pm
It won’t disappoint.
Patrick S.
July 13, 2023 at 9:11 am
I really appreciate your reviews and website. I’ve had loose plans for years to launch a website that rated movies based on their wokeness, so I’m very happy that you beat me to it! Please consider reviewing ‘Blackberry’. IMO, it was non-woke in the same way as ‘Tetris’ and ‘Air’.
Emerson
July 14, 2023 at 6:52 am
Whew! Glad to hear this one may be worth watching! I still hope and pray Tom can be rescued from Scientology but at least his movies are still solid!
Kevin
July 17, 2023 at 1:11 pm
Given Tom Cruise’s meteoric personal success, do you think it’s possible his experiences with Scientology have helped him as a person and professional as opposed to being a burden? He once said his study of a particular aspect of Scientology got him over his dyslexia so he could do Top Gun (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1105679/Cruise-credits-Scientology-conquering-childhood-dyslexia.html). I follow Grant Cardone who is a self-made billionaire and he says Scientology helped him quit drugs and self-destructive tendencies so he could become the success he wanted to be. I think the establishment has had it out for Scientology since its inception because it was effective. Just like false narratives are disseminated, prescription drugs are pushed over sound nutrition and the rest of the controlled demolition of society is pushed forward.
Crackahata
July 22, 2023 at 2:03 am
Get a life
Jo Olsen
July 22, 2023 at 9:02 pm
I pray for him too. I actually think he’s trapped.
dullitch
July 15, 2023 at 1:34 pm
Nice to actually see reviews that can help non indoctrinated people avoid Woke (and government) infected propaganda movies. However, the realism regarding females (real ones) taking on men in physical battles in movies – including the MI series – went out of the window many years ago. I guess your average MI6, CIA trained up gal could quite easily get the better of most post millennial Soy Boys, but beating up hardened Eastern European baddies and the like is fantasy at best. Still, since most of the franchise’s action scenarios are fantastic there’s no reason not to let the girls in on the vaudeville act.
What really makes me laugh is the old chestnut – now long since discredited and frankly, risible – underlying myth that underpins the whole franchise. That the CIA, FBI, MI5/6 and their kissing cousin alphabet agencies are mostly real good guys that occasionally have rotten apples. But don’t worry folks, the IMF will put them right and the monolithic and brave guardians of civilisation can carry on defending our freedoms. The fact that the alphabet agencies have been and are possibly THE most corrupt and thoroughly degenerate tools of an equally totalitarian administrative elite; weaponised against and caring absolutely NOTHING for our liberties or safety makes the whole thing laughable.
The usual cliché sprinkled around films like these, when one of the principle baddies pithily bemoans the hypocrisy of Western democracies (or Republics in our case) should leave a sour taste for those of us who have finally cottoned on.
Gareth Hughes
July 17, 2023 at 7:31 am
Dear James, thank you so much for putting together this great little website which I find so informative. Thanks also for doing the research and putting in the effort to look at these programs in advance so that we can either look forward to seeing them or forgetting about them. You write very well and it is so useful having your comments on these films and television programmes.
Keep up the good work and thanks again for taking time out to do all of this.
Best wishes – Gareth
Kevin
July 17, 2023 at 1:14 pm
Thanks for your awesome reviews, your taste resonates with mine so this will be my go-to source for good critic reviews.
Jay
July 18, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Dead on assessment of the movie- I too noticed the comment about the next war being fought over resources. One absolute law in Hollywood however is that the bad Guy has to be White. There are only two Black bad guys and one is only briefly in the movie before being kicked out of the train. The other tries convincing his White bad guy boss that maybe Ethan isn’t really a bad guy.
Everyone else is White. The only movie I can think of recently with the main Bad guy being Black was the original Black Panther
James Carrick
July 18, 2023 at 2:34 pm
I would have dinged it for that except that the main antagonist is Latino.
Jo Olsen
July 22, 2023 at 9:04 pm
It was a great thrill ride of a movie! And I remember only one cuss word (GD). I could be wrong…but it was so refreshing to not have the F bombs!!!
Reine Rush
July 25, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Loved the movie, and your review! Saw it in 4DX format, and laughed so hard during the car chase scene… great film for those looking for action without all the preachiness.
Donald Ackervold
August 5, 2023 at 11:46 pm
Amazing in the sense that this seemingly never ending franchise delivers yet again, but disappointing in how its predecessor hits the mark far more often than this film does. The stunts may not be found anywhere else of this caliber except the John Wick franchise, and even Keanu Reeves’ best stunt work doesn’t top Tom Cruise jumping off a mountain on a motorcycle (with minimal CGI, no less). However, Reeves employs something in his films that can be seen in all of them, and felt, and that this installment of M:I misses the mark on: addicting character development.
Dan
October 13, 2023 at 2:08 am
I am surprised people aren’t seeing the wokeness in this film. A bunch of “strong female leads” especially one that “saves” Ethan on the train? How do people not see this? Most of the movie revolved around these “strong female leads” and Kittridge and other male presences, except for Ethan, seem a bit dense while the female leads seem in tune and smarter than everyone. I guess people are so ingrained with wokeness that now that it is fully in our movies and TV shows today people just widely accept it and give it a wave of the hand. I mean EVERY main lead in this movie was of a female persuasion. You don’t even see Ethan’s two counterparts much in the movie at all. And even their parts seem like “Oh no, what do we do?” Come on, people!!!
CoolGuy
December 21, 2023 at 8:29 pm
Great action flick that feels a little like Inception with the musical score and intrigue. There was a small woke factor with the French assassin being a non-binary super hero.
Nicole
January 26, 2024 at 2:18 pm
I binged all the MI movies in a row and thought this was the best one. Really difficult for a franchise this long and old. Something Fast and Furious couldn’t achieve past 3 movies.