Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Another Sure Major Hit for Tom Cruise

This was another summer blockbuster movie that my wife and I have been highly anticipating. Those of us in Indonesia were fortunate enough that the movie was released earlier than in the US, so we had the chance to see it yesterday on its first day of release. All right then, lets get to it. 

Brief Story Line

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise - Top Gun: Maverick, The Mummy etc) was assigned by Kittridge (Henry Czerny - Scream VI, Ready or Not etc) to retrieve an important item which would involve his old ally Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson - The Greatest Showman, Reminiscence etc). Ethan later enlisted the help from Benji (Simon Pegg - Truth Seekers TV series, Ice Age: Collision Course etc) and Luther (Ving Rhames - Pulp Fiction, Piranha 3D etc) in his mission. While doing the mission, they encountered a very formidable adversary in the form of Gabriel (Esai Morales - From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, La Bamba etc) and a mysterious woman who would later revealed to be Grace (Hayley Atwell - Christopher Robin, Agent Carter TV series etc).

Unfortunately for Ethan and friends, they were being chased by various parties who also wanted to get their hands on the item, including CIA agents led by Briggs (Shea Whigham - Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, Perry Mason TV series etc) and a ruthless assassin, Paris (Pom Klementieff - Thunder Force, Guardians of the Galaxy movies etc). Things became further complicated with the involvement of Alanna (Vanessa Kirby - Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, The Crown TV series etc), the international arms dealer who they met before. 

So what would happen to Ethan and friends? You could find out in the first part of this story.

End of Brief Story Line

Wow, that was just amazing. This movie was almost full of action sequence that mostly were death defying stunts involving Tom Cruise. I think audience were really looking forward to those scenes as have been hyped from many months before. And they were absolutely satisfying with the most anticipated motorcycle scene (done by Tom Cruise himself). My wife and I were very thrilled as well during the car chase scene in the middle of the city that left us breathless, but the best part for me was that scene before the end. There were countless times where my wife screamed due to the intensity. 

Unlike previous Mission: Impossible movies, I felt this time it did not have any major twists (except maybe one particular time in the train), although it did not feel shocking. And there were few times where the pace was slow especially when the item was being heavily discussed (a bit too detailed personally, even though I could understand the aim was to provide context). There were not too many humorous scene either with Benji did not seem to really have much time to provide his usual witty remarks (perhaps more screen time in the second part?). However few time the tone felt lighter when it involved Grace.

The cast were brilliant here with everyone totally convincing in their roles. Hayley Atwell was capable of portraying the character to counter Ethan Hunt. Esai Morales was really suitable as the villain and even Pom Klementieff successfully annoyed us playing a completely different type of person she was well known for. Other than the names I mentioned above, there were also additional support cast such as Cary Elwes (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Robin Hood: Men in Tights etc) as Director National Intelligent Derlinger, Frederick Schmidt (Angel Has Fallen etc) reprising his role as Zola and few others in minor roles.

Yesterday we saw this movie in a Dolby Atmos studio but not the one we frequently went to. The sound system was still amazing (which meant they had same standard in all their studios), but it did have smaller screen. Nevertheless, it was very enjoyable especially when the sound effect was so great as it added the entertainment value. The musical score was done by Lorne Balfe who also did for Mission: Impossible - Fall Out. Oh there was a personal feeling that despite its great climax here, Fall Out somehow felt a bit more spectacular for me. Hopefully Part Two would provide an even more spectacular ending. In case you are wondering, there was no mid or post end credit scene in this 2 hours 43 minutes movie. 

Btw, this seventh installment was directed by Christopher McQuarrie who frequently worked with Tom Cruise in films like Top Gun: Maverick, Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. So his experience was definitely a plus point. He also co-wrote the screenplay of the movie together with Erik Jendresen (writer of Band of Brothers TV series). Critics really adored this film as seen in the very high critical ratings and the audience seemed to embrace it as well with many people highly recommended it. 

Overall I think this is going to be another huge success for Tom Cruise. For me and my wife, we were really entertained by the action. The plot was not complicated (in fact it was easy to understand where everybody was looking for this specific item). Although the part of the entity might be a bit too detail, but in general the story was interesting with a bit dramatic moment that would have impact in the future movies. Both of us could not wait for the second part in June 2024.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars