ReelBob: ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One’ ★★½

By Bob Bloom

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One” is a cinematic thrill-ride, overflowing with death-defying stunts, fierce hand-to-hand combat sequences, exciting car chases, far-flung locales and narrow escapes.

But, at its core, “Dead Reckoning” is hollow and sagging. It feels as if we’ve seen all of this before — even as the stakes are raised with an almost omniscient opponent — to a level above any other iteration in the series. It also feels loosely sewn together, with too many closeups, which probably is a consequence the filming completed under COVID pandemic restrictions.

This time, the mission of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is the destruction of an artificial intelligence known as The Entity that can steal secrets from and take control of any computer as well as manipulate reality. To complete his task, Hunt and his team, Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell and Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, are joined by Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust and newcomer Hayley Atwell as pickpocket-extraordinaire Grace.

The Entity’s ally is Gabriel (Esai Morales), a dark figure — a sadistic assassin — from Hunt’s past.

Throughout “Dead Reckoning,” Gabriel, with the help of The Entity’s anticipatory algorithms, seems one step ahead of Hunt, despite Hunt’s and his pals’ usual bag of gadgets and life-like masks.

It seems that, for much of the movie, Hunt and his allies are like dogs chasing their own tails. A lot of movement and running occur, but not much of it seems to advance the story.

Director Christopher McQuarrie, along with co-writer Erik Jendresen, appear to have constructed “Dead Reckoning” around showcasing Cruise’s penchant for performing daredevil stunts. And while these may thrill audiences, they appear more as distractions than as part of the overall plotline.

“Dead Reckoning” itself feels artificially created, as if “Mission: Impossible” parameters were fed through a computer, spitting out a script.

Most every aspect of the movie feels like seen-it, done-it moments from earlier “M.I.” adventures. Even the vehicle chase scenes and collisions through Rome and Venice feel like pale imitations of earlier efforts.

At times, the movie bites itself in the ass. Hunt, Luther and Benji continue to rely on technology, even though they realize that The Entity must have invaded the majority of computers on the planet. It takes them a long while to realize they must go analog, which seems kind of silly for such intelligent operatives.

Now, don’t let all this criticism dissuade you from seeing “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One.” It is truly entertaining and exciting — even, after 163 minutes, when you are physically exhausted. The movie contains several spectacular heart-in-your-throat sequences, and Cruise does his upmost to delight you with his derring-do.

It’s just that “Dead Reckoning” feels like it’s going to self-destruct under the weight of its, Cruise’s and McQuarrie’s obsession to please its audience at the expense of a solid storyline.
Maybe McQuarrie and Cruise will right their ship for “Part Two,” which is scheduled for release next June.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE
2½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), intense sequences of action and violence, language, suggestive materials

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com