We still cannot believe that Dead Reckoning Part 1 is Mission: Impossible’s seventh film so far with the second part coming in 2024. The million-dollar franchise shaped quite a memorable formula for their movies and has stayed true to its core since the first film. However, unlike the previous movies, Ethan Hunt faces his most diabolical opponent yet; a faceless, formless enemy - AI.
Mission: Impossible had two tricky tasks. First, to survive the internet’s biggest summer blockbuster battle of the year between Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. With the kind of marketing gimmick that the two movies have been throwing, the chances of Dead Reckoning topping the charts were minimal.
Secondly, after the critical success of Fallout – what is there left to explore? The Fast franchise slowed down, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was unfortunately lukewarm. The death of Hollywood Action is near; we just don’t know who’ll be taking the final nail.
But it might not be Tom Cruise. The 61-year-old Hollywood veteran returns as the main protagonist alongside his crew; Simon Pegg as Benji and Ving Rhames as Luther. Together, the trio continues to fly halfway across the world just to save it from imminent and impending danger in their final mission of the franchise. Sounds too familiar? Why would anyone watch such overused formula?
Because you should never underestimate Tom Cruise. To everyone’s surprise, there is still some of that magic in Cruise’s tank. The first part of Dead Reckoning gave us possibly the best, most anxiety-stricken action film of the year so far with an enemy we’re all too familiar with. The fear of AI going rogue dates back to the early days of the Terminator series. Back then, moviemakers and audiences alike couldn’t fathom the idea of a faceless threat threatening humanity; so they sent in fierce-looking killer robots.
In the era where AI is being used regularly, the fear of it becomes real. What if your OS is built in to manipulate you? What if it’s already manipulating you? What if it’s plotting the extinction of humanity as we know it since we’re incredibly damaging to mother earth? Using those fears, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie produced a fun action flick that creeps the ‘Ifs’ into the back of your mind as soon as the credit rolls.
Themes aside, like other Tom Cruise movies, most of the things you see onscreen were shot that way. Very minimal CGI as Cruise also did his own stunts. That particular stunt you saw in the trailer? Yup, that was real - and watching it on the big screen was breathtaking.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 is a must-watch this month, especially if you’re an action film fan or a Tom Cruise fan.