Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Loud, fast and fun, dead reckoning doesn’t shy away from the true colours of the MI franchise and instead exceeds previous efforts in terms of scale and sheer creativity. The chemistry between the cast remains solid with Pegg and Rhames performing together at their usual comedic and witty standards, however, they were criminally underused yet the lack of tension within the plot had molded their role as comedic relief into something somewhat redundant. Tom Cruise gives the fans what they want with good acting and an ambitious commitment to the action genre, striving for the most daring of stunts with the added realism to push the franchise ahead of its many competitors. However, this is mission impossible and not the notorious ‘Jackass’ series, and therefore plot remains significant. The plot is conceptually intriguing with the relevance of AI and the presence of an almost invisible enemy however practically this falls short with a crushingly large lack of threat or thrill and somehow little action. Many sequences involve running or sitting having a few drinks and droning on about some massive entity that’s going to end Zuckerberg and Musk’s careers. Despite this, many of the sequences were indeed dumb and fun in true MI fashion, with the yellow beetle chase scene being one of the highlights. The plot also comes across as messy which is natural for action films and certainly better than linear and stagnating, however the 1st act, and towards the midpoint of the film, seems to be packed full of scenes that constantly change the stakes of the narrative so many times that the purpose or drive behind the story becomes uninteresting and ultimately disposable. These types of issues arose in the latest Guardians of the Galaxy franchise where the motto of ‘go big or go home’ was taken one step too far using the concept of one last extravagant finale as an excuse.
Ironically the mission was very much possible and the script didn’t seem to utilise the full power of a mechanised, data-stealing, probability-calculator that could allegedly predict Hunt’s every move there was an inconsistency in the power dynamic between characters, one minute the antagonist is an omnipotent God the next they’re using a stopwatch and schedule to micro-manage Ethan Hunt. The majority of the elements brought into this film are positive with the addition of completely original ideas for chase scenes and a greater psychological element shared between both the protagonist and supporting characters. The fate aspect of the film is also strong as it adds an extra layer of tragedy as Hunt fails to control or even prevent history from repeating itself. Speaking of supporting characters, Grace, played by Hayley Atwell is both funny and well-written which can’t be said for most female roles within the action genre, in fact, there are many great female leads within the film with Ilsa Faust standing out in particular. Sometimes Grace’s scenes are too corny with her crippling inability to drive and her persistent lack of trust in Ethan, she constantly turns on him at the most inconvenient moments which is a typical and overused cliché within the action genre.
Whilst the extortionate amount of scenes spent talking about AI is tedious, the way in which director Christopher Mcquarrie implements AI into the action of the plot is to be appreciated. One of the standout AI moments was the airport chase scene where Hunt is being tracked down by a team of agents, one of which is operating a tracker which has been overridden and perfectly displays Hunt’s face onto unsuspecting innocent civilians sending the entire squad after a digital ghost. The theme of the reliability and dependency of technology is strong but lacks a well-written mastermind behind it to tie scenes together with a stream of tension. Had Solomon Lane gotten his hands on such technology the mission may have actually been impossible. So its clear to see there’s originality a plenty in this summer blockbuster however it seems quite a few scenes have been inspired by or perhaps even copied from john wick, a horse in a desert, a paris roundabout, a party fight scene and yet MI7 is rated or atleast regarded as a better film. Overall MI7 offers several novel concepts and sequences that provide a fresh angle for the MI franchise however the plot and presence of the antagonist are lacking, leading to an uninteresting background for thrilling new stunts but still another film that shows just how much Tom Cruise loves cinema and his fans.
