Movie Review # 618: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)

Well, everyone, today, we are going to review an action sequel film of a franchise that has been going on since around the mid-1990s, and is based off an action TV show. It stars Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames, plus newcomers like Hayley Atwell, and Esai Morales. Ladies, and gentlemen, I present to you all my review of the seventh installment of the Mission Impossible film franchise that is divided into two parts, one for this year, and the other for next year. Presenting to you all is my review for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1.

Plot: When IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), and his team head of a two-pieces crucible key that could advance technology, and deal with artificial intelligence (AI), it becomes their mission to retrieve the two pieces, and stop a new threat that could use the key to destroy the world. Will Ethan, and his team complete their mission before people from a terrorist organization called The Entity get their hands on it, and most likely use it to screw the world over?

Now, as I’m sure some of us know, this new Mission Impossible film has not performed quite as well as many of the previous films. And yeah, that was probably due, in part, to films like Barbie, and Oppenheimer being released a week later, and making a butt load of money. So, is it safe to say that those two films caused Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One to make somewhat of a run for it’s money, or was this new Mission Impossible sequel not that good period? Well, although anything’s possible, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is a really good film that seemed to have gotten fairly overshadowed by films like the two that I just mentioned a moment ago, and possibly a few other films that have been released over the course of this summer. First of all, there is plenty of action in this film? I mean come on, who most likely doesn’t love a good action film? Also, it was interesting to see some really good character development with the newer characters, and the old ones, especially the main characters that were part of Impossible Mission Agency (IMF) in this film. It’s especially interesting that we get to delve into main character Ethan Hunt’s past a little bit before he joined the IMF. Oh, and what’s more, we get to see a little more of a different side of Ethan that we probably never saw in the other Mission Impossible films prior to this one. So that was really cool. And, of course, there are characters like Ethan’s IMF buddies Luther, and Benji, especially the latter. Honestly, Benji seems to really act like the comic relief for this film, even when he didn’t have to do so. So, props to you guys at Paramount Pictures! Ilsa Faust, the other IMF agent, is also a really great character, even though she seems to play more of a minor role than when she was in 2015’s Mission Impossible: Fallout, or 2018’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. There are also new comers like Grace, who’s played by Hayley Atwell. For being a newer character seven films into this series, she was a really great character, especially with how her character is played out in this film. And, of course, there’s the villain, Gabriel, who’s played by Esai Morales. Oh man, talk about a well-written villain. In fact, if one were to ask about top five, if not at least top 3 most menacing villains in the Mission Impossible film franchise, Esai Morales’ character, Gabriel, would most definitely fall somewhere in that ranking. He’s clever, knows how to come up with the most diabolical schemes that one could imagine, and more. As for the other characters, most of them are fantastic too.

Next, there is the storyline. Wow, a great majority of these films were really good. But this one, though not quite perfect, is superb. First of all, the fact that the filmmakers were willing to divide this particular chapter of the franchise into two parts shows that they were willing to make this one as great as possible. Considering that Dead Reckoning is supposed to be the final chapter of the Mission Impossible series, it’s probably for the best that they did it this way. Granted, we’ll have to wait until next year to see the second part, as long as the current Actor Writer’s Strike doesn’t delay Part 2 to a later date. Still, what the filmmakers did by making the storyline of this sequel better paced, and trying to do a better job of developing the characters was a really smart move on their part. Otherwise, had it all been made into one part, this sequel would have likely had pacing problems with the storyline, probably suffer from lack of character development, especially when it came to newer ones, and things like that. Because of that, along with the fact that Dead Reckoning Parts 1, and 2, is supposed to be the final film for the Mission Impossible movie series, it was definitely wiser to divide it up into two parts, rather than making it all one story in this case. Additionally, this Mission Impossible movie has a much darker, and grittier feel than many of the previous films in this franchise, especially the first through fourth films. I mean even when it comes to the action sequences of this film, not only are they phenomenal (which how often is that not the case in an action film?), but it was almost like many of those sequences had depth, purpose, and meaning to them. That was also proof as to why the writers were trying to make this film as good as possible. As for the musical score by Lorne Balfe, wow also out of this world like for the other sequels in this film that he scored for.

So, with all of those good things, what could have possibly gone wrong? Well, there are a couple issues that Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 suffers from. To begin, some of the secondary villains could have been developed a little more than they were in the end. Going along with this, there were some potential arcs that could have been played a little better than they seemed to be in the end. Second, despite most of the story being well developed, there were some scenes, especially near the end, that may have felt a little rushed, and didn’t seem to be as well developed, and played out as they could have been. Finally, it wouldn’t be surprising if some people were to have issues with how certain scenes were handled, or how certain characters were handled this time around, or things like that.

And that’s my review for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1. So, did this film deserve to be a flop, or just a moderate success at the box office? Honestly, no! Sure the film did at least have a couple issues. Still, it was a really good film that deserves as much recognition, if not more than, the previous Mission Impossible movies. It has a really good story, and action sequences that have meaning, mostly well thought-out characters, and a darker, and grittier feel that didn’t seem quite as present in the previous films. I would say that if you haven’t seen this film yet, please do. You will most definitely be surprised, and glad that you did afterwards. Also, since this, and the second part that’s supposed to be released next year, is said to be the final installment, then all the more reason to see the beginning of the end of this franchise! So, go see it, and let me know what you think!

Final Grade: B+