Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Once again, Tom Cruise reminds us why we go to the movies
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
3 / 5
I give a lot of threes in my personal movie ratings, and that shouldn’t be construed as a bad thing. The rating “in the middle” is not the same as the rating of “meh.” It’s a curve, not a straight line. Most movies are threes: you won’t regret having seen them, but they’re not doing anything particularly special so they’re ultimately just disposable entertainment. You can like a movie without raving about it, and you can dislike a movie without hating it. For me, this penultimate (maybe) chapter in the Mission: Impossible franchise is a perfect three.
Sadly, given the state of summer 2023, a three is pretty awesome. Dead Reckoning might not be doing anything special, but that also means it’s not wandering away from what makes it fun in search of praise from cinema-scolds who are quick to hate anything that doesn’t kowtow to their political preferences but don’t actually ever buy tickets to anything. Dead Reckoning Part One knows who is buying the tickets, and presents itself to that paying audience with no apology to anybody else. It is a product of solid craftsmanship, keeping all the superspy plates spinning and all the potential global-threat plot holes filled. Tom Cruise, who is now 60 years old, is still in ridiculously good shape and doing as many of his own stunts as he can get away with (that’s really him jumping a motorcycle off a mountain). The supporting cast is giving everything a game go. Nothing is outstandingly amazing, but nothing is clunky and out of place. Dead Reckoning understands what it’s part of, hits its marks, and owns its tropes. In today’s cinemascape, that’s actually admirable.
Tom Cruise has been revisiting Ethan Hunt for over 25 years now (Roger Moore played James Bond for 12, and Daniel Craig did it for 15) and while everybody’s saying there will only be one more of these movies, I remain unconvinced. But while you can, enjoy it. If you like the high-flying action and exotic location shots that Mission: Impossible has staked out as its spin on the superspy genre, you’ll dig Dead Reckoning Part One. If you are looking for the franchise to “grow” or “evolve,” you will be left frustrated. But if you are in that latter camp, what’s wrong with you? Let M:I be M:I and go suffer through Dial of Destiny or Elemental again.
3 stars of 5: It’s solid summertime popcorn fare.