Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

Genres : Action, Thriller 

Writer : Surya Turaga 

Date : 17th July, 2023 

MI7 kicks things off with a very different pace and style compared to previous Mission: Impossible films, with more emphasis on anticipation than action. The film is entertaining from start to finish. This fit the new and relevant theme of the film and its villain, but it may have caused this film to lose a bit of its unique touch. 

MI7 is the seventh film of the MI franchise, starring Tom Cruise, who plays Ethan Hunt, a spy agent of a secret organization that fights bad guys. I don’t need to explain this further since the MI franchise is a very iconic one that has transformed action films as a whole. Unique plots that didn’t get lost in the details, extreme tension with amazing fight sequences, and strong characters that play vital parts to the story. 

Even the seventh part has not faltered. The action sequences in this were long and very well choreographed, never letting the length make the scenes dull at any point. Tom Cruise has truly given this film a lot of dedication. He’s able to do something barely anyone does today. He gives the audience what they truly want; a good film. 

The straightforward yet enticing plot keeps moving forward, seldom feeling like the plot becomes stagnant or aimless. It did happen a couple of times in the second half of the movie, though. There was a justifiable reason for this and the change in pace, though. 

Each MI film deals with a different kind of obstacle; nukes, evil organizations, etc. This one was centered around Artificial Intelligence. With AI being a digital thing, this film became one with a very mysterious set of antagonists. Basically, this film was more of a chess game than an action film. Lots of anticipation and planning before confrontations. 

The indirect confrontations and the planning also meant all the characters became very gray. The characters had more than met the eye. The problem was that they didn’t give the characters their due depth that needs to compliment such grayness. Everyone looks stylish and iconic, but their character didn’t come out as well as it should have. I prefer character over charisma. 

I didn’t get enough of the beautiful settings and cinematography, either. Everytime I wanted to see more of a set like a desert or something, the scene cut. Everytime I wanted the camera to move just a little more in a more fluid way to showcase the scene, it cut. I rarely got a chance to admire the scene. I was just keeping pace with the mystery-esque (that’s not a word) plot. I suppose you can’t have it all. The handheld style sequences were satisfactory. 

Lastly, I have to say, Tom Cruise finally let his ego bleed a little into this film. This whole film was like a one man show. Ethan Hunt was the only one pushing the plot forward. That isn’t a bad thing. The problem is that he’s usually depicted as a single man taking on large entities and intervening in events far larger than him alone. 

MI films all work on plots moving forward through teamwork. Viewers get excitement when different groups of the team pursue different directions, working in unison to bring everything to a grand finish in the end. This film made him look like a manifestation of destiny a little too much. 

There’s justification. Dead Reckoning being a 2 part story has a story arc spread out over 2 movies. So it’s hard to make a judgment on who’s important when only half the story is over. I don’t accept this reason because the plot may be split, but MI7 had a mostly complete story arc in it, only leaving some plot lines open for the finale rather than halting movement like ATSV. 

Side note : Henry Cavill had such amazing screen presence in MI6, I definitely felt his absence in this one. This isn’t a criticism, I just noticed lol. 

Overall, Ethan Hunt the stuntman was absolutely brilliant, and delivered nothing short of a masterpiece. Ethan the character, however, fell a bit short. When I say this, I’m holding MI7 to the standard of MI6, not the recent dogma of films being produced by Hollywood. This was a brilliant movie, and I am quite excited for what happens in the finale, and think this is certainly worth a watch. 

Surya-o-meter : 90%