Susan Granger’s review of “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1” (Paramount Pictures/Skydance)
Cinematic adventures just don’t get more exciting than Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1.”
Inspired by the 1960s’ television series, shadowy IMF secret agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is once again summoned by Kittreidge (Henry Czerny), his CIA government contact, this time to combat a sophisticated, state-of-the-art A.I., known as ‘The Entity,’ that threatens the entire world.
Hunt’s mission involves acquiring two parts of an intricately bejeweled, cruciform Key that’s also sought by villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales); it ignites a cryptic device concealed in a Russian submarine, called the Sebastopol, sunk somewhere below the ice in the Arctic Circle.
After reassembling his Impossible Mission Force ‘team’ – expert hacker Luther (Ving Rhames) & field agent Benji (Simon Pegg) – Ethan goes after adroit thief Grace (Hayley Atwell), British spy Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) and arms dealer White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), while eluding Paris (Pom Klementieff), a ruthless assassin.
While it’s well-known that Tom Cruise does his own daredevil stunts, credit coordinator Wade Eastwood, particularly for the authentic motorbike jump in which Cruise careens up a ramp and over the edge of a 1,246-meter-high Norwegian cliff, plunging into a ravine and parachuting to the ground.
In preparation, Cruise took 500 hours of skydiving training and did 13,000 motorbike jumps. He then performed this stunt six times for just the right shot.
Another adrenaline-pumping scene has him boarding a speeding train right before the Kylling Bridge on Rauma Railway is blown up. Previously, there’s a high-speed chase down Rome’s Spanish Steps with Cruise handcuffed to Atwell in a tiny vintage yellow Fiat 500.
While actively propelling the action sequences, director Christopher McQuarrie, co-writing with Erik Jendresen, keeps a clear focus on Ethan Hunt’s character, including his humor and vulnerability, cleverly blending story and spectacle.
FYI: No “Mission Impossible” film has ever had ‘teaser’ end-credit scenes, and Part 2 is scheduled for June 2024.
Full Disclosure: My son, Don Granger, is one of the producers.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1” is an intense, thrilling 10. See it in theaters – on as big a screen as possible.
