IMAX

The only impossible mission is keeping Tom Cruise away from this spy franchise, and quite frankly, that’s not a bad thing. On the surface, the story seems fairly simple – retrieve the keys to the AI machine – but throw in competing endgames, you’ve got yourself a twisty spy thriller. Christopher McQuarrie, who directs and co-wrote the script with Erik Jendresen, had a forward-thinking story in mind that seems impossibly relevant in 2023 given the rapid rise of AI and ChatGPT. Asking prescient questions about what individual or nation should hold the keys to such power, and more importantly, when artificial intelligence takes its directive to places beyond what it was designed for, who is to blame? Even Ethan Hunt isn’t quite sure of the answer.

As long as Tom Cruise is willing to keep making these Mission: Impossible movies. they won’t stop. After watching Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, I don’t mind if they continue, because this film is one of my favorites of the franchise so far. In this sequel, the film begins with a polarizing opening scene that reveals a potentially powerful and wildly unpredictable Russian A.I. weapon known as “The Entity.” It is laying at the bottom of the ocean in a sunken submarine. Former IMF director, Eugene Kittridge calls upon Ethan Hunt once again so that he and his team can track down two halves of the key that controls the dangerous digital technology before it falls into the wrong hands.

In this 7th incarnation of spy vs bad guy, with a part two waiting in the wings, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning opens with a War of the Worlds about to break out. The race is on to find the key(s) to a dangerous new weapon that turns allies into enemies and could send the world into Oblivion if the right of entry into the high tech computer falls into the wrong hands. Only Ethan has All the Right Moves, along with A Few Good Men like his IMF geek squad Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames), to bring back humanity from The Edge of Tomorrow without too much Collateral damage.

Tom Cruise never seems to do anything halfway, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One doesn’t, either. It takes off like Cruise at a full-tilt run, a nimble, entertaining thriller that zings along thanks to crackerjack action sequences and the chemistry of its cast. The seventh film in this franchise launched in 1996 is a blast, light on its feet despite its nearly three-hour runtime, with a timely threat that enhances the suspense. I was so engrossed that I forgot about the much-hyped stunt used to promote the film—Cruise driving a Honda motorcycle off a mountain and diving 4,000 feet into a ravine—until that moment actually arrived.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One delivers nonstop thrills. AI and digital manipulation drive the villainy. As usual, adventures include dazzling locations: Rome, Venice, Abu Dhabi, and under the Bering Sea. As central IMF operative Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise brings his extraordinary physical acting skills, but he also charismatically commands the camera in quieter, emotional scenes.