Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 Review: Terrific action, performances power through a pedestrian story

Alongside the John Wick franchise, the Mission Impossible franchise continues to set the bar for action spectacle. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 pushes practical action set pieces to the limit.

One of the best decisions since Christopher McQuarrie began his partnership with Tom Cruise is the inclusion of savvy female characters like Rebecca Ferguson‘s Ilsa Faust. Dead Reckoning continues the trend with the addition of Hayley Atwell as Grace. She’s a cunning thief who ends up in Ethan Hunt’s crosshairs during the mission to retrieve two parts of the key to access the AI’s (called the entity) source code.

The best element of Dead Reckoning’s story written by Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen and McQuarrie involves showing how a person is recruited and joins the IMF. Dead Reckoning also shines with Esai Morales as Gabriel. He and Ethan’s history doesn’t get explored enough, but Cruise and Morales shine as agents with similar skill sets. Dead Reckoning misses an opportunity to dive deeper into Ethan’s past. Unfortunately, the group or ahem “entity” Gabriel represents and the mission that leads to Grace’s recruitment isn’t interesting aside from the action scenes.

The story involving an AI system that every powerful nation wants to control, but can’t find doesn’t pack the same emotional blows as Fallout, Rogue Nation, Ghost Protocol or 2022’s best film Top Gun: Maverick. Dead Reckoning moves at such a quick pace that it doesn’t allow for major moments to sink in. There’s a moment involving an important character to Ethan that doesn’t have the emotional heft it should.

However, Henry Czerny‘s monologues as Kittridge are fantastic, Cruise gives his all and the supporting cast does its best to overcome the pedestrian story.

If you choose to accept it, let’s take a deeper look at Dead Reckoning. The Mission Impossible films are available to stream on Paramount Plus.

Ethan’s mission in Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning begins with the “Entity” and the submarine housing the AI drowning at the bottom of the ocean. Accessing the entity requires two keys. The entity is acting in its own interest and wants to remain hidden.

Ethan’s mission at the outset of Death Reckoning is to find Ilsa. She’s in the Namib desert with a healthy bounty on her head. After Ethan briefly reunites with Isla, he pays Kittridge a visit in Washington, DC.

Kittridge wants Ethan to retrieve the keys so the United States can control the “Entity.” Ethan decides to find the key so he can destroy the “Entity.” He heads to Abu Dhabi where Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) are on hand to find the buyer. While in Abu Dhabi, the gang discovers the power of “Entity” and Ethan encounters Grace for the first time.

Welcome to the IMF

For the first time in the franchise, Dead Reckoning shows how a person joins the IMF. Essentially, an unscrupulous person with particular skills is forced to either join the IMF or go to jail for their crimes. The beginning of the film features a flashback showing what led to Ethan’s recruitment as well.

The introduction of Grace to the franchise provides more context as to how a person is coerced into joining the agency. Grace is a thief who crosses paths with Ethan in Abu Dhabi. She steals one of the keys from Ethan and books a flight to Rome.

Atwell provides a jolt of energy to the franchise as Grace. She shares some similarities with Isla. Both served unknown benefactors at the outset. Also, just went it seems like Ethan has them pegged, they throw him for a loop. The one difference is Grace is a master thief but not the MI-6-level spy of Ilsa’s stature. Grace is confident pickpocketing, but is in over her head with everything else, but her bulldozer-like mentality makes her a force of nature whenever she’s onscreen.

Unfortunately, it’s the all-too-brief onscreen meeting between Ilsa and Grace that leads to Grace agreeing to work with Ethan and the IMF. Atwell and Ferguson are great, but I could have used more scenes featuring them together.

Ethan recognizes Grace as a thief almost immediately seems to indicate he might have been a thief before joining the IMF. However, Dead Reckoning doesn’t really take the time to delve deeper into Ethan’s past.

All aboard the spectacle

Where Dead Reckoning shines brightest is in the action sequence. Unlike Fast X from earlier this year, McQuarrie knows precisely how long action sequences should last and how to build up to big moments. The editing is top-notch as well.

The fight sequences don’t match the physicality of John Wick, but the chase in the streets of Rome has some shockingly violent wrecks that match the shocks in John Wick 4. As teased in trailers, Cruise using a motorbike at a high elevation to parachute onto a moving train is amazing. The cinematography doesn’t quite match Fallout’s skydiving scene. However, the train sequence that follows the parachute jump is easily the most creatively staged action setting of the year.

Dead Reckoning is the best action film since John Wick 4 and even manages to rival baba yaga on occasion.

Dead Reckoning final thoughts

Cruise’s commanding performance, a talented supporting cast and great action sequences make Ethan Hunt’s latest mission a successful one. I just wish the mission itself was a little more creative.

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