Tom Cruise’s quest to exhilarate audiences like never before jumps up yet another notch. The motorcycle jump off a cliff may have been widely publicised well before Dead Reckoning Part One’s release, but that doesn’t stop your heart rocketing up your throat and into your mouth when the moment comes. It’s not just that freakishly bold stunt (repeated no less than six times by Cruise) that makes the latest M:I adventure worth watching, however.
The Christopher McQuarrie M:I films have always added a little more in terms of depth, especially where Ethan Hunt is concerned, whilst ramping up the stunts and stakes. Dead Reckoning Part One continues in this endeavour, but not only that, it takes the franchise to places it hasn’t really explored where consequences and vulnerability are concerned. Whether it’s hanging off a plane, the side of a building, a helicopter, or racing after his enemies on a motorcycle, there’s never been a proper sense that Hunt or his IMF team are in any real danger. Safe, albeit thrilling comfort cinema is how one could best summarise the M:Is, but McQuarrie and Cruise have quite effectively stripped away that quality for Dead Reckoning Part One.
Everyone is on splendid form, and of course we expect no less from Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Rebecca Ferguson, but the real standout is Hayley Atwell as Grace, a thief on the run drawn into escalating danger from which she might not escape, even with Hunt’s aid. Vanessa Kirby returns from Fallout as Alanna, along with Henry Czerny as Kittridge, last seen in the first M:I from 1996. Esai Morales gives a terrifically devilish performance as Gabriel, a cold-blooded killer from Ethan’s past chosen by the rogue AI known as the Entity. As daft as it sounds on paper, it does work. Who goes to an M:I film to care about the plot anyway? I suspect evil sentient AI will now become the new go-to antagonist for blockbusters, now that multiverse oversaturation seems to be kicking in.
Where does it rank overall? Tough call, but it’s up there. Repeat viewings will likely have to define its position. Certainly, however, it’s one of the most exciting and well-executed blockbusters in recent years.
4.5/5
