THE PLOT
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet - to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.
QUICK REVIEW
Its not just the Fast And Furious franchise that has enjoyed a revitalized transformation mid-way through its catalog. The Mission Impossible film series has also enjoyed a renaissance going from a one-man action franchise to an ensemble of characters. Now just like the Fast films we’re in the final stretch with the first part of the final story with Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.
The franchise standards Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson are joined now by Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, and Pom Klementieff. The acting is on point, we’re not talking about the mixed bag you get in that aspect with the Fast films. The direction from Christopher McQuarrie is great alongside well done set pieces and action sequences. This is a well-made film as we’ve all come to expect these MI movies to be.
From the standard of looking for a movie that will be a great popcorn action flick, this delivers. Audiences are going to have a blast with this and the finale will do a good job in getting them excited for next year’s big final movie. From the aspect of being an action movie, it does the job. I can absolutely see this being an A-tier film for a lot of folks out there.
My big gripes come with the story. The franchise goes into less believable waters (no pun intended when you see the intro) with an AI villain that is simply known as “the entity.” The story beats are incredibly predictable and there’s one scene involving multiple individuals at the start of the movie that is a cringe-inducing overwhelming amount of exposition.
But even with my gripes this is still an enjoyable film. I was still invested in seeing how things turned our and I’m invested in seeing what happens next year with the big finale. I give Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One a solid B+. Its not the best storytelling from the franchise, but its still a fun ride regardless.
INTIAL GRADING