Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review: Exciting Action Sequences Elevate Tom Cruise's Popcorn Fare

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby,  Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Simon Pegg 

Where: In theatres near you

Rating: 3 stars

With nearly two hours and forty-four minutes of run time, this is the seventh and longest film of the Mission: Impossible franchise. As the title mentions, it is only the first half of the entire chapter.

Based on the original 1966 television series of the same name created by the late Bruce Geller, the film takes off from the events of its previous edition ‘Fallout’ where the crew of the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) headed by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) saved the world from a nuclear apocalypse.

The film begins with an extraordinarily long prologue giving an insight into Operation Podkova on board a Russian submarine which holds a special two-part key that can access the source code to harness global control. It is the 74th day and the crew on board experience an enemy submarine and Torpedoes vanish as if they were never there. In fact, a member mentions, “It seems we are chasing a phantom.”

And soon, the IMF has to deal with a “Godless, stateless and amoral enemy,” who is termed the “Entity”. They realise that since the key has the power that could get the world to its knees. It would be prudent to find who is after the key and thus reach and identify the Entity.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the core of the story, and this is the deepest within science fiction territory that any of the Mission: Impossible films have ventured into.

Ethan, assisted by his long-time pals Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), makes it his mission to find the two pieces of the key and return them to his boss Kittridge so that the United States of America will be in a premium position.

The driving force of the plot is the chase to obtain the mentioned key. Apart from Ethan Hunt there is a set of undesired elements trying to get their hands on it. They include Grace (Hayley Atwell), a burglar and Ethan’s new ally, a disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), black-market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby) and Gabriel (Esai Morales), a powerful terrorist who not only has connections with the Entity but also share a past with Ethan. Gabriel is accompanied by his henchwoman, the assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff).

While the characters are well etched and every actor plays their part convincingly, the action sequences take centre stage. There are many exciting and nail-biting cliffhanger moments, which at times are spoilt by deus ex machina, but nevertheless, the cinematographer (Fraser Taggart) deserves a special mention for capturing the elaborate stunts in confined spaces like; the coupe of the train, narrow alley, and over-the-train while it is passing through the tunnel. 

Overall, the last half hour of this big-budget action film is exciting, and it elevates this popcorn fare to make it worth your ticket money.