Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are back with the latest Mission Impossible film. Hunt’s (Cruise) mission, should he choose to accept it, is to find old friend Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) and retrieve from her part of a key. A key, that when completed, will give the holder access to an out of control computer AI that can bypass any security and start to rewrite what is known as true. And that is the world we have become, where sentient AI, is the biggest risk to our safety. That means the world’s governments and powerful criminals want it. This includes the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Gabriel (Esai Morales), a ghost from Hunts past. This leads Hunt and team (Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames) and new addition, Grace (Hayley Atwell), chasing across the world in a trail of epic chases through iconic locations to save the world.

What you want from these films, is a ridiculous plot, incredible action scenes and death defying stunts with ever increasing stakes. And here McQuarrie and Cruise not only deliver that, but deliver it spectacularly.

The plot is nonsense, chasing a random object around the world to stop a sentient AI falling into the wrong hands giving them infinite power. But that doesn’t matter, from the first bars of the famous score to the, literal cliffhanger ending, it’s one wild ride.

What really makes it is the high tension practical effects. From car chase to train chase, there’s a refreshing lack of (obvious) CGI. And while you know that Hunt is unlikely to die, it doesn’t stop each set piece ratcheting up the tension further everytime.

While it’s a little long it looks fabulous, with the cast giving it their all to keep up with the high paced action. Providing an entertaining high octane adventure.

Mission: Impossible is exactly the film that you expect. From ridiculous storyline to incredible action set pieces and fantastic theme tune, you get the high watermark of action adventures. While it is a touch long, it manages via its creative high stakes action scenes to keep you hooked. Roll on part two.