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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Movie Review

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise. It’s a flawed, but fun installment.

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“The world doesn’t know it,

but they’re counting on you.

Good luck, Ethan“

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Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. This is the seventh entry in this series and it failed to compare with its predecessors with ‘Fallout’ still remaining the best of the bunch. Gone is the simplistic narrative and polish of that movie in favor of a cluttered plot and way too many characters and set pieces.

It’s a very long movie, clocking in at two and a half hours, and it feels long. There was no need for this massive length, especially when you take into consideration that this is just the first part of a two-part story. The entire storyline about the dangers of A.I. wasn’t all that intriguing nor was it well crafted at all, though it was timely of course. The franchise continues to have a big villain problem as the villains here are entirely disposable once again.

The characters overall were a mixed bag with some being effective and others not so much. Ethan Hunt gets a solid arc here and Tom Cruise is naturally terrific in the role. He got to do his own stunts, which is hugely impressive, and he was a real action star through and through.

Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg got some solid moments, but I was so sad that they killed off Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa character. On the one hand, her death raised stakes significantly, but on the other hand, it left a void in this franchise that feels quite deep. As for Hayley Atwell, she got a prolonged role in this movie, which was frustrating as her character was quite tedious.

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Dead Reckoning is best seen for the action set pieces, which are incredible throughout. The movie’s biggest set piece is the one where Cruise jumps from a mountain cliff and onto a train. That one is an unforgettable moment and the movie never quite reached that momentum before or after it. But there are car chases, fist fights and extensive shootouts that were also quite cool as the cinematography, score and directing are as slick as ever. The movie actually being shot on location also made for a highly entertaining, gorgeous-looking and authentic blockbuster like they don’t make ‘em anymore.