Mission Impossible is one of my favourite film franchises going at the moment going from strength to strength with each instalment. The films are full of the best action sequences to be on the big screen in recent years and have scenes full of tension, having you sit on the edge of your seat. Perfectly cast and perfectly directed by Christopher McQuarrie since Rogue Nation. The series always has my own award for the best trailers that we ever get to see, maybe it’s just because the theme always lands.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team out to retrieve both parts of a key to The Entity a mysterious artificial intelligence that has the ability to hack into governments without any trace, and able to predict every more the team makes.
The biggest part of these films that people look forward to are those big action sequences where Tom Cruise does his own insane stunts, with this time being the bike jump and a train sequence, as well as all the running around and driving around a city. The bike sequence is terrific and the biggest standout moment of this film for me, I’ve seen it countless times in the trailer but seeing it build to that moment and it actually happen was fantastic. The other set pieces of the train and car chase do work, but don’t hit as hard. The car chase in particular doesn’t hit the heights the chase in the previous instalments Fallout and Rogue Nation manage to achieve, and almost feels more like a sequence they felt they needed to add to the film.
I really liked the new casting additions to the franchise. Hayley Atwell holds her own very well and fits in with the rest of the cast. The character arc for her doesn’t feel earned and could’ve benefited with having more depth to the character in general and more time with her. Pom Klementieff is someone we’ve seen a whole load of aside from her role as Mantis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her role in this film is the henchman for the main villain and she feels threatening despite her size and limited screen time, a character I would’ve liked to have seen more of. The main villian of the villain of the film is played Esai Morales, who I’ve only ever seen in How to Get Away with Murder. I really liked his performance and the threat he brings to the film, even if I don’t fully understand his motivations entirely and is given a character who is slightly one dimensional, I hope we get to see more of his story in Part Two when it is released next year. Shea Whigham and Cary Elwes don’t add a whole load to the film unfortunately, particularly Shea Whigham who just spends the whole film trying to catch up to Ethan Hunt.
The returning faces of Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby all do a decent enough job but all have better performances in previous films in this franchise.
Christopher McQuarrie is one of my favourite filmmakers working purely because of these films and the way he works and manages to get some of the best out of Tom Cruise, his credits are primarily in writing. You can’t doubt the man’s talent at writing action sequences but the main area where the film struggles is with the characters who don’t get enough moments to build out this world, and is really what this film needed to take it to be more on par with the last two.
Overall, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One does a lot more than some Part One’s do, it nicely wraps up enough with room for Part Two to continue the story. It might be that I look back on this one with more fondness when the story is completed but for now this one still does a good job, proving to be one of the better action films you will see this year thanks to the set pieces, but if you enjoy the characters of this world you will be left wanting more.
What did you think of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One?
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