Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Genre: Spy thriller, Action

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Released: 2023


     The Mission: Impossible franchise has been on a critical and commercial win-streak the likes of which studio heads salivate over. Especially since Christopher McQuarrie assumed the director's chair, the series has established itself as the premium destination for tightly choreographed action and practical, death-defying stunts performed by franchise star and possible immortal vampire Tom Cruise. It is this tradition of quality that the seventh movie inherits, and I'm pleased to announce that MI7 lives up to this hefty legacy with a flashy, thrilling, and action-packed offering that grounds itself with a refreshing emotional core that the series has heretofore struggled to institute. 

     Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One centers around a malevolent AI called the Entity. This sentient program can infiltrate any digital technology on Earth and alter it to its intangible heart's content, giving it the power to shape the very concepts of truth and right and wrong as it wields absolute control over the digisphere upon which modern life is based. Obviously the world's governments are quite eager to add this ultimate trump card to their national arsenals, which has sparked a clandestine race for both halves of a special key that can purportedly control the AI. Main character Ethan Hunt believes that the Entity is too powerful for any one man, and as such goes rogue for the umpteenth time to use the key to destroy the AI once and for all. The Entity has plans of its own, however, and selects a representative to carry out its interests in the physical world, a sadistic assassin named Gabriel from Ethan's past. The bulk of the movie, then, is a chaotic struggle among a whole host of different factions fighting to both gain the key and learn how they can use it to destroy, control, or unleash the Entity, depending on their ideological alignments. 

     To be honest, that summary doesn't really communicate just how expansive and dense this movie is. MI7 has a surprisingly intricate, complicated plot that relies on an expansive cast of characters all of whom have conflicting motivations and objectives. The movie does its best to keep us updated on who's doing what, why, and with whom, but this constitutes the movie's only significant flaw because the script often struggles to occupy the middle ground between info-dumping and leaving the viewer abandoned in the plot wilderness. Many are the times where a character will begin a sentence with "So you're telling me . . ." before recapping the protracted monologue we just heard in simpler, more succinct terms to make sure the audience grasps what's just been revealed. It's pretty clunky, and often feels redundant to listen to a significant moment revisited mere seconds after it transpired. 

     On the other hand, there really are a LOT of people who want this key for a LOT of different reasons, and I often found myself thinking that some factions probably could have been merged or excised altogether for a leaner, more streamlined story. I'm not an idle viewer, but there were times where even I had to do a mental inventory of who all we've been introduced to and what all their myriad plans are and this really just isn't the kind of movie where pouring over all the information with which you've been presented is much fun. 

     Thankfully, this is a relatively minor complaint. The plot is legitimately interesting, and while its reading of AI and the challenges it poses is superficial, it's still appreciated that the writers are trying to tell a story that engages with a very real current-day issue. The action is reliably fun and fast, and the stunts are some of the most mind-blowing the series has offered. 

     The real standout of MI7 for me, though, was the characters. I've always enjoyed Mission: Impossible, but I've never been able to fully immerse myself in them because of what seemed to me to be thin characters. They were far from bad, of course, but none of them really had much depth or meat for the actors to really sink their teeth into. MI7 is much more character-focused, mostly concerning Ethan. I felt like the plot actually tried to go some places with his desire to protect his friends and challenge the character's ideals. It's good stuff and helped make the action feel more impactful because I was more invested in why the people were fighting rather than the way in which they were exchanging blows. 

     MI7 doesn't break any new story ground, but there's a lot to like here. The action and stunts are great, the characters are more fleshed out and conflicted than in past installments, and even the occasional exposition missteps can't detract much from a summer blockbuster that's well above average.

A-