by Jonathan Anderson
The seventh instalment in Tom Cruise trying to kill himself on camera the Mission Impossible franchise, the first of two parts, is out now, and it’s just as bonkers as you’d expect.
27 years (!) ago, some of you may remember the first MI film, which had at least some focus on espionage, much like the Fast and Furious franchise was once about racing cars. However, the CIA infiltration and the infamous train chase were signs of things to come, and we’ve since had motorbike duels, helicopter duels, cliffhangers, plane-hangers, and the Burj Khalifa.
Dead Reckoning’s predecessor, Fallout, was arguably one of the greatest action movies of all time, so this had big shoes to fill. Unfortunately, the film has veered deep into absurdist territory, with Hunt and sidekicks Luther and Benji (Rhames and Pegg) now facing off against a self-aware, evolving, powerful AI entity we’ll call The Thingamajig.
The Thingamajig holds the key to world domination and can only be controlled through a literal key which can access its source code. This has entangled a merry band of rogues trying to find it, including thief Grace (Atwell), MI6 agent Ilsa (Ferguson), black-market arms dealer Alanna (Kirby) and a terrorist from Hunt’s past (Morales). All play their parts with great charisma, but the ominous shots of ‘the entity’ occasionally spoil the fun.
The staples are there – the crew, the masks, the much-talked-about pivotal stunt (riding a motorbike off a mountain), and the beautiful, intelligent women who somehow end up worse than their stupider male counterparts. At times it’s like watching a kitsch 1970s Bond movie, and at others, a haunting film noir. The action definitely delivers – be it desert shoot-outs or more train shenanigans – but the plot doesn’t make up for it. This won’t disappoint hardcore Tom Cruise and action fans, and part two is still to come…
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is in cinemas now.
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