Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Story: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team are tasked with retrieving a chaotic weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Review: An AI gone rogue threatens to disrupt the world as we know it, and its key is a hotly sought commodity that Ethan Hunt and the IMF must find. This key is the McGuffin for a prescient plot, but audiences aren’t watching ‘Mission Impossible’ films for their riveting stories. Since ‘Ghost Protocol’ (2011), Tom Cruise has been on his own mission as an actor and entertainer – to outdo himself with audacious stunts in each entry. ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ is no different, where Cruise rides a bike off a cliff, as heavily promoted in the trailers. Naturally, this may appear to be the film's centrepiece, and while it looks jaw-dropping on a big screen, the action has much more in store across its close to 3-hour run-time. The screenplay’s pacing takes a little beating, but the film is thrilling, especially in its climax.

Once again, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s constant need to challenge their respective boundaries result in some increasingly tense set pieces. Paired with the franchise’s iconic theme, they succeed in pushing you to the edge of your seat. Additionally, the plot raises the stakes for Ethan and his team, including Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson). Hayley Atwell shines as Grace and is a charming addition who pairs off brilliantly with Cruise’s Ethan, both dramatically and comedically. In fact, this may be the funniest MI film in the franchise so far.

Of course, the star of the show is Tom Cruise, whose running antics are awe-inspiring despite his increasing age. His commitment to doing most of his stunts allows the fight choreography to breathe, and the film is so much better for it. In this year of adrenaline-driven action films, it has become increasingly hard to distinguish one from the other, but Cruise ensures he stands out from the rest. The fact that this franchise still has enough life left in it after seven films without feeling too exhaustive says a great deal about Cruise and McQuarrie’s passionate dedication to action-based blockbusters.