Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One review: Tom Cruise runs, jumps, and delivers again

Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One delivers on expectations. It is, after all, the seventh film in this popular franchise that started way back in 1996. The audience knows exactly what they’re getting with one of these films. There will be lots of action with huge set pieces in many international locations. There will be someone in peril or perhaps the fate of the world will hang in the balance. There will be characters taking off latex masks to reveal a completely different character underneath. And of course, there will be Tom Cruise, as spy extraordinaire Ethan Hunt, running as fast as he can, jumping off cliffs and ultimately saving the day after surviving many close calls.

Thankfully, Dead Reckoning Part One is not just the Tom Cruise show; it’s also a story about friendship and the lengths the team will go to save each other. That team includes Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), and new addition Grace (Hayley Atwell), a pickpocket and thief for hire. The MacGuffin they are pursuing is a literal key, one that can unlock the secret powers of a nefarious and powerful AI. While the key is a rather sly joke on the plots of such big action movies, the introduction of AI takes Dead Reckoning Part One almost into Matrix territory. This AI is called “the entity”—which immediately recalls The Matrix’s “Oracle”—and is an all-seeing computer system that predicts the future. Yet as a villain it’s not fully formed, which makes caring about the stakes an uphill climb.

However, no one comes into these movies for the plot and the filmmakers know that. Christopher McQuarrie—who has directed every Mission: Impossible film since 2015’s Rogue Nation— keeps raising the action bar in Dead Reckoning Part One. From a cat-and-mouse sequence at a busy airport to a long car chase through Rome to a grand finale aboard a runaway train, each action scene tops the one before it. Plus, there are always at least two parallel stories happening during each of these action sequences. As a result, the tension never lets up and the quick cuts from one suspenseful event to the other ensures the rhythm is tight and highly engaging. The film, with its exemplary sound and special effects, is such a ride that in some instances audiences might think their seats are shaking. Indeed, there’s so much excitement that by the time the finale comes, many would surely feel the need to clap. McQuarrie and Cruise are betting on these sequences to make their film and they do.

While the action keeps the film humming along and the audience satisfied, the scenes in between the big set pieces are rather lackluster, full of plot expositions and ponderous dialogue about the end of the world. Even when the film returns to its theme of friendship, it does it so seriously that it stops the flow. It’s maybe asking too much for the audience to invest in such things when in the previous scene every vehicle in Rome was destroyed by our heroes with no care in the world. The screenplay, credited to McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen, should have kept things lighter.

The actors compensate and keep it moving. Atwell makes for a fantastic addition to the film’s core cast. Her banter with Cruise comes with wily amusement. She’s not intimidated by him; in fact, she matches him beat for beat and when the action moves to that long car chase scene she actually outmaneuvers him. Could Atwell prove herself cooler than Cruise? You bet. Vanessa Kirby returns as the White Widow and single-handedly adds a big jolt to the movie’s final third. She has to play two characters—those masks again—and ramp up the dramatic tension. She drolly conveys the easy charm of her character yet she’s also totally believable as someone in peril, adding real stakes to a film whose action is mostly cartoonish. Rhames and Pegg remain the perfect comedic foils to Cruise as they guide him through the numerous action sequences. Esai Morales appears as the enforcer for “the entity‘’ and brings such simmering malevolence to the character that he should have been the villain instead.

But Cruise remains the main attraction. He carries the film with aplomb and invests the action with enough familiarity from the previous films that fans will be more than happy. Yet he also keeps raising the action stakes, making Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One a must-watch for anyone looking for a thrilling summer blockbuster.

Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One opens in theaters July 12