CAST: Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell,  Esai Morales, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff,  and Tom Cruise

DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie

Every once in a while Tom Cruise drops us lesser beings a reminder that there is no one like him and there will never be a superstar who bleeds films like he does.

While a lot of Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning is Cruise trying to reneg Newton’s Law of Gravity, you hold your heart in your hands while your jaw drops to the floor of the theatre.

That’s what it is – Tom Cruise trying to revitalize the theaters of the world with the power of his mind-boggling finesse at action.

Cruise soared to great heights last year with the release of Top Gun: Maverick, receiving widespread acclaim and enjoying tremendous success at the box office. The sequel garnered high praise and generated massive profits. Officially, the Top Gun sequel achieved a remarkable 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, falling just one point short of matching Cruise’s highest-rated film on the site, Mission: Impossible – Fallout. This installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, released in 2018, held the record as Cruise’s highest-rated film with an impressive 97% Certified Fresh rating on the Tomatometer.

In the aftermath of the fallout from “Fallout,” Ethan Hunt, played by Cruise, finds himself faced with the task of rebuilding and reassessing the significance and value of the Mission he is dedicated to. A malevolent artificial intelligence enemy is causing havoc by dismantling global infrastructure, and Ethan must navigate a complex web of allies and adversaries hot on his trail.

Dead Reckoning brings together Ethan and the team he has meticulously assembled throughout the series. Rebecca Ferguson’s ice-cold assassin Ilsa Faust returns for the third time, Simon Pegg’s anxious computer expert Benji Dunn for the fifth, and Ving Rhames’ tech genius Luther Stickell for the seventh. However, the characters often feel the need to verbally remind the audience of their deep bond because, without those reminders, they would appear more like colleagues than a chosen family. Mission: Impossible – Fallout, released in 2019, effectively showcased the characters actively demonstrating their unwavering loyalty to one another while emphasizing the emotional weight of Ethan’s world-saving missions. In Dead Reckoning, their closeness is assumed, and the moments of quiet reflection are scarce. Instead, the time between action-packed sequences is filled with dense technical discussions about the intricacies of the plot.

Thus begins an expansive game of cat and mouse, infused with clever twists on the series’ familiar themes. One particular highlight is a thrilling airport sequence, brimming with playful digital face-mapping and classic latex-mask tricks that delight the audience. Director McQuarrie has crafted the most immersive Mission yet, where the heart-pounding chase involving a tiny Fiat places viewers right in the midst of the action, inducing a visceral sensation akin to being relentlessly battered. Prepare yourself for a film that might just give you cinematic whiplash.

Each action set-piece in the film brings immense joy, although there are occasional moments of déjà vu that linger. This sentiment extends to the primary antagonist, Gabriel, portrayed by Esai Morales. As the human embodiment of the abstract A.I. threat, Gabriel serves as Ethan’s punching bag atop moving trains. While Gabriel is a competent character, he falls short of the unforgettable impact left by Henry Cavill’s fist-reloading villain in Fallout. However, Fallout sets an exceptionally high standard. As Dead Reckoning Part One races towards its thrilling conclusion, the intensity escalates.

In his finest moments, Ethan stands as the antithesis of James Bond—an undercover operative who steadfastly rejects the moral compromises and unintended consequences often associated with worldwide espionage. Previous Mission: Impossible installments, such as M:I-3 and Fallout, delve into Ethan’s impossible struggle to maintain normal human relationships amidst his demanding duties. Dead Reckoning tantalizingly hints that Part Two will unveil Ethan’s backstory, yet it also emphasizes our limited understanding of the character at this stage. Throughout the film, the enigmatic Entity probes the characters, asking them what truly matters to them. The narrative is structured to challenge whether Ethan’s allegiance lies more with his mission or with the lives of his companions, adding an intriguing layer of conflict to the story.

The stakes become deadlier, and the tension grows even tighter. Mission once again demonstrates that action-packed films can be both adrenaline-fueled and intellectually engaging, devoid of mindlessness, humorlessness, or stupidity.

Tom Cruise’ mission is once again – accomplished.

We still drooling.