.png)
When your franchise is seven films in, you’d likely forgive audiences for being a bit fatigued. But, somehow, Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Tropic Thunder”) and his longtime team behind and in front of the camera keep doing the, well, impossible and elevating each subsequent movie in this series to dizzying heights of action spectacle, character drama, and practical filmmaking technique. But when you have a franchise led by a character described within the film as “For all intents and purposes, a mind reading shape shifting incarnation of chaos”, it’s hard not to up the ante each time.
And up the ante they have because this isn’t just the next “Mission: Impossible” film. This is “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”, the first half of an epic two-part adventure that already sits at two-hours-and-forty-three-minutes long. When things already get earth-shatteringly crazy with each new incarnation, splitting the next chapter into two films, well that’s a recipe to get even more nuts.
Cruise once again plays Ethan Hunt, the leader of the Impossible Mission Force, a secret branch of the U.S. government who carries out missions that others cannot. Accompanied by his team once again consisting of hacker Luther Stickell, played by Ving Rhames (“Lilo & Stitch,” “Dawn of the Dead (2004)”), and field agent Benji Dunn, played by Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Star Trek (2009)”), and assisted by disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson (“Doctor Sleep,” “Dune (2021)”), the team must track down a pair of keys that could potentially be the first step to stopping a rogue sentient Artificial Intelligence known as The Entity. Meanwhile, all manor of people are trying to stop them, such as Gabriel, played by Esai Morales (“Ozark,” “Titans”), and his personal assassin Paris, played by Pom Klementieff (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Ingrid Goes West”), who both work for The Entity, and Ethan’s own boss at the CIA Eugene Kittridge, played by Henry Czerny (“Revenge (2011),” “Ready or Not”). All the while, Ethan must also deal with a new wrinkle: Grace, played by Hayley Atwell (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Christopher Robin”), a pickpocket caught interfering with the mission.
That’s a lot of characters and despite being just “an action movie”, the film spends a lot of time establishing the rules of The Entity and the people coming after Ethan and his team. Not only that, but numerous scenes also feel at least a third longer than they otherwise would given that everyone needs to be introduced and/or shown getting to each location. That’s fine when you have the main team and one, maybe two bad guys. But when your film quickly starts to stack up to five or six other parties all at play, it can lead to quite a bit of bloat.
For a film coming in at nearly three-hours, it makes sense that it would feel long. That’s basically what you’re signing up for. This is one of those movies where the opening credits don’t even come until thirty minutes in. The pacing within each scene is great though, pushing along to make sure all the requisite information is communicated so the plot comes across clearly and also leaves room for the spectacle. The editing is also great, keeping things clean and clear, while also being playful.
Cinematographer Fraser Taggart (“Dead Fish,” “Robot Overlords”) is also having a lot of fun here. It feels like 90% of the film is shot with varying degrees of Dutch angles, and it not only adds to the feeling of paranoia rampant throughout, but it also just makes things fun to look at. Like the editing, it’s clean and non-intrusive, but also isn’t flat the entire time either. Numerous moments have an almost comedic styling to them, such as a long take that ends with a door opening and a character standing perfectly in the middle of it.
Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie (“The Way of the Gun,” “Jack Reacher (2012)”) has spoken at length about how he and Cruise have taken inspiration from silent films and the works of Charlie Chaplin when designing their stunts and approaching these films, and nowhere does it come across better than here. The film is remarkably funny, not just with throwaway lines but also with varying practical moments. An extended sequence involving a kitchen car on a train is a cavalcade of crazed stunt work and also borderline absurdity with food flying everywhere and its escalation. There are even multiple moments of actual sleight of hand magic on display, showing just how committed to the art of practicality and showmanship McQuarrie and Cruise are, and just how truly dorky they are about their inspirations.
Speaking of the Cruise missile himself, what can even be said about Ethan Hunt at this point? The man is a legend, completely committing to this character like virtually no other. As these films have progressed, you can see Ethan evolve and gain more of a teacherly role, helping guide his team along, train them, and trust them more. That emotional core is on full display here, just like in “Fallout” and it makes for the film’s best moments. One conversation between Luther and Ethan is simply one of the best in the entire series because of how grounded and character driven it is.
There’s also another element slipped in here that, like last year’s “Maverick” and its subtext about aging movie stars, feels plucked straight from the headlines. The fact that Cruise is now up against an Artificial Intelligence, and one that could replace him, feels very much like the kind of talk that’s cropping up around Hollywood right now in the midst of numerous strikes and the idea of AI writing and studios owning digital likenesses. Who knows if this was intentional from McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendresen (“Band of Brothers,” “Killing Lincoln”), but it does make the film feel a bit more thrilling, as if Mr. Movie Star himself is trying to craft a $290 million presentation to show the studios why this prospect would completely suck.
Pegg and Rhames are, by extension then, fantastic, keeping the chemistry and charisma of the central trio alive and very much well. Ferguson continues her streak of being the best actor and action star in this series outside of Cruise, and she’s thrilling to watch. Atwell is also great, forming an almost protégé kind of role with Cruise. She’s so good, you practically spend the whole movie wondering why she isn’t leading her own action series or why “Agent Carter” only lasted two seasons.
Meanwhile Czerny is a fun throwback to the first Cruise “Mission” film all the way back in ’96, and his character acting style is right at home here. He’s not in the film much, but he’s a bright spot when he is. The same goes for Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown,” “Pieces of a Woman”) reprising her role from “Fallout” as the White Widow. She’s not here much, but her semi-crazed look is always a highlight when she is. Morales and Klementieff are the only two that suffer here, and the reasoning why is very clear: their characters are actively hurt by the two-part nature of this film. Klementieff, for as great as she is barreling through Rome in a giant armored car or sword fighting with flamboyant outfits, she doesn’t feel like she really has anything to do yet. Likewise, Morales is a fun, gravely voiced servant to The Entity, but he feels one note, like his true exploration hasn’t arrived yet.
And that right there is where the rub comes: for as great as what’s here is, for as thrilling and fun as this adventure is, it can’t escape the fact that it feels like half of a movie. Yes, there is still three acts, things are escalated accordingly, there is a complete character arc, and it doesn’t just cut to black in the middle of a scene; it is, for all intents and purposes, a complete film. But it doesn’t feel like a stand-alone film.
Even as we experience more and more two-part films, pretty much all others are able to exist as a satisfying stand-alone film while also building to a larger and better part two. “Infinity War”, “Across the Spider-Verse”, “Deathly Hallows Part 1”, even the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy threaded that needle perfectly. But this feels like half of a story, like it ends at an intermission rather than an actual conclusion. It’s frustrating, as it means the feeling of excitement and anticipation isn’t there, either for the next film or due to what was just witnessed. Those expecting the kind of white knuckle, catch your breath ending of “Fallout” shouldn’t look for that here. This is merely intermission.
That’s not to say what’s here isn’t fantastic. Slap a different name on this and it would be lauded as one of the greatest action films of the 20th century. Call it the unfortunate nature of the two-parter idea or the increasing expectations of this franchise, but “Dead Reckoning Part One” simply feels incomplete. It doesn’t end so much as it pauses, with its third act feeling anticlimactic because of it, and its villain feels too one-note, especially compared to past antagonists. But these are issues that are likely fixed when watching the two halves as a whole, which is unfortunate as this isn’t a review of that whole, but of the first half. And for better or for worse, this does feel like a “Mission: Impossible” movie, but just the first half of one. 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment