“We live and die in the shadows for the ones we love most for the ones we never meet”
If there is any actor in the world I trust more with 2 hours and 45 minutes of my life, it is definitely Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible. I mean, come on—who else is single-handedly stick saving movie theaters starring in not one, but two Blockbuster releases in 2023 alone? Not to mention, all while doing all of his own stunts!
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 directed by Christopher McQuarrie (who also did M:I Fallout and Rogue Nation) does not waste anyone’s time; within the first 5 minutes we are already deep underwater below the arctic in an undetectable submarine that holds *the* most powerful key in the entire world. But the real question is: what exactly *is* this power, how can it be used, what does this power unlock, and is this power actually too dangerous for one party or entity to hold that it’s actually considered a threat to mankind?
In a contemporary world where AI is pretty much tracking our every word, online footprint, publication, *and* taking all of our jobs, the threat of its presence remains at an all-time high with advanced techniques such as “ghosts” aka undetectable people with chilling identity-changing masks (like I’m talking about reallllly advanced masks!), erasing truths and rewriting history, hacking satellites and using people’s actual voices; M:I’s story shows in a very action-packed way these considerable threats leaving viewers biting their nails the entire time to see what will happen next.
Throughout the entire film expect to be entertained with gorgeous landscapes shot anywhere in the world from Abu Dhabi to Rome all the way to Vienna; you will be addicted to the thrill of Cruise and his determination to of course save the day, but in like, a totally cool IMF type of way where every message eventually self-destructs and people are always getting gassed. There is even a crazy fight scene on top of the Orient Express that according to Screen Rant was an action scene they have “always wanted to do“.
There were a lot of strong female characters in the story which made me so happy to see including the most badass chick in the entire film who f*cks sh*t up in her schoolgirl skirt and combat boots: Paris, played by Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Love and Thunder).
Hayley Atwell (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) as Grace the pick-pocketer quickly turned mission accomplice makes for a fun sidekick to Cruise’s Hunt as they chase each other around and even engage in a car chase–except it’s in a tiny yellow FIAT and it’s sort of low-key hilarious.
There was not one minute during the movie where I was like “ugh, when is this going to be over”. In fact, being that this is only part *one* of the story, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning actually did an amazing job of leaving me hanging, like could we have had even at least 5-10 minutes more? In the wise words of Cruise, go see this movie on the biggest screen possible and just enjoy it!
