Film Review: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)

In a year with a bizarre amount of Part One movies, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One stands above the others. An intense and engagingly intricate action film, it flies by in spite of its two and a half hour length. A prime display of spectacle at its finest, it will be mind boggling if this isn’t among 2023’s best blockbusters come the end of the year.

Rather than an ambitious syndicate or a corrupt government cell, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) finds himself facing off against A.I. in this film. A computer programme called The Entity has gone rogue, and its intelligence is only continuing to evolve. The superpowers of the world, including the IMF that Hunt works for, believe they can control The Entity, while a mysterious man from Hunt’s past named Gabriel (Esai Morales) sees The Entity as the natural next step of life. However, Hunt recognises how dangerous this programme is to humanity as a whole. Reassembling his team, he searches for a missing key that can supposedly access and help destroy The Entity – a key that Gabriel and the world’s major powers are all after too.

Mission: Impossible is one of those franchises that has largely maintained a consistent quality while simultaneously pushing the envelope of what action movies can showcase. Dead Reckoning Part One features a myriad of awesome set pieces and stunts that we’ve come to expect from this franchise. This includes the jaw dropping motor bike cliff jump that was advertised everywhere last year, a climatic train sequence that leaves butterflies in your stomach, and even a car chase through Rome that coincidently mirrors one seen in Fast X, albeit this does it much better. The fact that most if not all of these sequences are authentic, and not the work of CGI as seen in far too many blockbusters this year, tightens the vice grip this film has on its audience.

This is sublime action filmmaking as the shot composition and direction spectacularize the set pieces while never forgetting the character driven stakes that give them weight beyond how cool they look. The wide and long takes of Fraser Taggert’s cinematography showcase the grand scale of what is happening, all while intense close ups on the characters and the riveting musical score emphasise the constant stress and rapid decisions that the characters have to make when in the moment. It’s a rollercoaster of thrills in which characters have to think on their feet and respond to the moment when their plans are thwarted or intercepted by The Entity and those aligned with it.

With A.I. on the rise, having exploded in usage this year, there is an unexpected timeliness to the film that perhaps even the team behind it did not foresee. While originally a concept limited to sci-fi movies like The Terminator, the usage of A.I. here is surprisingly potent. Ethan Hunt is a man who values humanity above all else, so to see him face up against an opponent with no attachments, emotions or discernible weaknesses is a rather compelling choice. Not only does it turn the IMF’s reliance on technology against them, but it makes for a thematically interesting showdown. The Entity follows hard calculated logic where Hunt follows his gut instincts and grounded belief in the value of humanity. The film decries the dangers of A.I., especially when it is left unchecked like in this case. Director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie has a passionate belief in people, and his exploration on how A.I. threatens humanity through a cold and calculated lack of empathy is as heavy as some of the action.

It is an immensely fun film that offers thematic food for thought. But appreciation of this element is not necessarily required to enjoy its story and characterisation. Blending a good mix of easily identifiable stakes and intricate psychological strategizing that feels like six dimensional chess at times, it is a film with constant momentum and breakneck pacing. At its heart are the characters, whose strong levels of engagement and identifiability are often overlooked in favour of the set pieces. The returning players are as fantastic as ever – namely Cruise’s borderline unhealthy dedication to stunt work – but the new characters really embolden the themes and electrifying pace. Hayley Atwell plays a shady thief caught in the crossfire who serves as a unique foil to Hunt, while Morales is quietly intimidating as Gabriel, a man who sees The Entity as a God to be served and fundamentally rejects the things that makes Hunt the protagonist.

Its commitment to genuine cinematic awe alone makes Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One worth the price of admission. But the fact that it feels like its own film despite being part one of two – something that is achieved by having a distinctive goal in this film that is resolved by the climax – just demonstrates the skill that went into its craft. It features an exhilarating narrative with compelling characters, strong contemporary themes, and action sequences that are so stunning it is almost unfair to other movies. The Mission: Impossible franchise have offered some of the best blockbusters in modern cinema, and Dead Reckoning Part One continues that trend with astute confidence and visceral intensity. Part Two cannot come soon enough.