When it’s said that Tom Cruise saved cinema in 2022, it isn’t a statement made lightly or with any false sincerity. Top Gun: Maverick was the invitation needed to truly bring audiences out of the comfort of their home after almost 2 years of enforced hibernation and the ease of the streaming services.
Had the pandemic never inflicted itself upon the world in the manner it did, our reliance on Netflix and Prime Video wouldn’t be as strong, the quick turnaround between cinema and digital access wouldn’t be nearly as immediate, and we wouldn’t even be thinking twice about going to the multiplexes. Thank the movie heavens then that Cruise stuck to his (top) guns and insisted that his movie be a cinematic event, the type that demands a giant screen and the communal mentality of experiencing it together.
The man knows his audience and he knows the genre, and it’s that instinct that continually fine tunes the moviemaking process to where, as calculated as it is, it never feels clinical or by-the-numbers. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is another feather in Cruise’s cap, one that encapsulates the feeling of the “summer blockbuster” (even though it’s the cooler months for us on this side of the pond) and reminds us, much like Maverick did, that the notion of the “theatrical event” is still very much alive; and Cruise is seemingly the only one capable of spearheading such.
The seventh Mission: Impossible outing – and third in a row for director Christopher McQuarrie (the capable helmer having re-shaped the franchise with both Rogue Nation and Fallout) – effortlessly raises the bar on what it is to be the epitome of popcorn entertainment, melding an unnervingly topical threat with impeccable action sequences, pleasing chemistry across its ensemble, and more-than-expected bouts of genuine humour. In short, this is the reason you come to the cinemas.
Whilst the film teases a backstory that plays into why IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise, still as commanding as ever) joined the agency – there’s the death of a woman involved, as well as the mysterious presence of a shadowy figure known as Gabriel (Esai Morales) – McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendresen (TV’s Band of Brothers) are all too aware that such history deserves its own film, and the action intended for all 163 minutes of this Part One needn’t be broken up with further emotionality; I dare say that for long-time fans of this series there’ll be certain set-pieces that will prove affective.
The MacGuffin on hand here – because what’s an M:I movie without one? – is something that hits a little too close to home amongst the current landscape of technology. A program known as “The Entity” is the latest high-profile creation that all the powerful higher-ups in the world are hoping to acquire for their own nefarious use; a self-aware AI creation that can infiltrate any digital system, but can create text and voice messages to mimic whoever it digitally investigates.
The Entity itself is contained within two separate key-like figures, and, naturally, Hunt and his skilful crew – tech field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), computer technician Luther (Ving Rhames), and rogue MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) – are tasked with acquiring it themselves, sending them across the globe for a series of tense, expertly crafted run-ins and action sequences; one particular set-piece in Rome in which Hunt and newly acquainted thief Grace (Hayley Atwell, effortlessly walking away with the film) are handcuffed to each other as they navigate a series of vehicles is undoubtedly one of the most exciting the series has created.
Speaking of Atwell, her Grace speaks to the series’ ability to project its female characters forward in a manner that extends beyond being merely a damsel in distress. Cruise has always been quite expertly matched across each film when it comes to his female co-stars, most of whom hold their own in the action stakes, and not only does Atwell stay with him beat for beat, but the returning Ferguson continues her assured dominance whenever she’s on screen, fellow return Vanessa Kirby (reprising her role as black market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis from Fallout) makes for an always-alluring presence, and Pom Klementieff makes for one hell of an impression as the maniacal Paris, a French assassin hired by Gabriel to terminate Hunt and Grace at every possible turn.
Much like last year’s Maverick, this film is intricately aligned with the nervous system of its audiences, managing to manipulate thrills and emotion in equal measure as Cruise continually defies the physics of the genre and what is expected of its leading man. The aforementioned car chase would be enough for any other film and actor to execute and be done with it, but in the realms of a Mission: Impossible it’s mere child’s play. Dead Reckoning sets itself up for the most exciting of ventures with next year’s Part Two (currently set for a release in June 2024) by ending the film on a bombastically rousing Orient Express sequence, but not before Cruise free-jumps from a motorbike atop a mountain in order to land on said Orient Express; no matter how many times you think you’ve seen it during the film’s promotional material, the real thing is even more breathtaking to witness.
With the Mission: Impossible films being one of the few franchises that seemingly improve with each sequel, Dead Reckoning Part One had a relative amount of pressure to succeed coming in. Whilst we should never doubt the one-two punch of Cruise and McQuarrie, what they have conjured here is beyond expectation. This is action executed to near-perfection, delicately balancing the thrills necessary for the genre with intelligent storytelling, neatly placed emotion, and an overall sense of humour that lets us an audience know that everyone here involved is aware of their popcorn temperament.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is screening in Australian theatres from July 8th, 2023.
