Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part I
**This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
While I greatly enjoyed the time when Tom Cruise would bring a new director on board for each “Mission: Impossible” film, I think- like with David Yates and the “Harry Potter” franchise- the franchise has benefitted from a steady hand as it builds to its endgame. No doubt the collaboration between Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on “Jack Reacher” was part of the reason he turned to the filmmaker for his flagship franchise, but when you consider that McQuarrie won his Oscar for the mystery thriller, “The Usual Suspects,” and collaborated on the script for Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie”- also starring Cruise as the man at the center of a dangerous mission- you can see why McQuarrie was the choice. He understands how to give ensembles each something to do, and he knows how to build up to- and out of- set pieces. No, he does not have the flourishes in style of a Brian DePalma or a John Woo, but he understands what these films require.
We begin in a submarine. Specifically, a Russian submarine that contains a sphere in it which houses an artificial intelligence. They come across a submarine, but they are a stealth sub- how can this sub know they are there? It would be spoiling things to say more, but the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has officially moved away from the traditional spy concerns about terrorist acts and moved into the cyber age, where the villains are almost ghosts in the machine, and the way they hide in plain sight is through digital erasure of their existence, but they are always watching. Ethan Hunt and co. have no clue what they are up against.
In his screenplay with Erik Jendresen, McQuarrie is baiting the hook for Ethan by bringing him back into Ilsa Faust’s (Rebecca Ferguson) orbit. Evidently theirs is not a relationship based around being together, and in their line of work, it makes sense. Here, he is sent by Kittridge (Henry Czerny) to the Arabian desert, where Ilsa- who has a price on her head- is in the middle of a transaction for part of a key that goes with the artificial intelligence from the submarine. This is very much a return to the MacGuffin form of storytelling the first two films in this franchise really thrived on, and I love how- even as we have more people explain it to us- what this key does remains a fairly vague mystery throughout the film. All that matters is whomever has it- whether it’s a superpower or an individual like Ethan, The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) or the mysterious Gabriel (Esai Morales, probably one of the franchise’s best villains yet)- will have control over something terribly dangerous to the world.
“Dead Reckoning Part I” is designed to be the first part of a larger epic around a central enemy, much like “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame,” and the film more than earns its set up for that type of story. McQuarrie starts by leaning into the Tom Clancy type of cyber thriller before getting to the masks, chases, and epic set pieces this franchise has become known for. I love that Cruise has brought back Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) time and again as part of Ethan’s team, and the three have a great dynamic that just cements their affection for one another. Ferguson continues to bring layers to Ilsa and Ethan’s relationship with Cruise while maintaining her status is one of the most kick-ass women in the history of spy movies. And as the silent but deadly Paris, Pom Klementieff is by far the coolest MCU woman of the year involved in a non-MCU franchise, especially during this film’s insane and entertaining car chase through Rome. (I love the potential of Brie Larson in “Fast X,” but this film makes that one look so much worse in comparison it’s nuts.) We get a new female character added to the film in Grace, a simple criminal brought in to get the key for her buyer. Grace is played by Haley Atwell, and this character has to tip toe a very thin line between someone way in over their head but also calm and cool in most situations she finds herself in. Atwell is a blast of fresh air for this franchise- and kudos to McQuarrie for giving us four different, but equally compelling, female characters to be in the same space with- but sometimes I don’t know if the writers know how to toe that line as well as she does. By the time she’s recruited by Ethan for a final showdown on a train, however, I’m on board.
It’s not secret that the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has basically existed for Tom Cruise to test his limits when it comes to stunts, but I’m surprised how relatively subtle the action is in this film compared to “Fallout,” for the most part. Yes, the car chase is wild, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen the franchise do before. When Ethan goes after Ilsa in the desert, the sandstorm and him on horseback make that thrilling, but the action is largely in closed quarters, same with the airport where we first meet Grace. Everything comes down to that final train sequence, which- for logistical reasons- also includes the image of Ethan driving a motorcycle off a mountain and having to navigate his way to the train. Once the train gets going, we see how everything gets set up to build for the moment where McQuarrie and Cruise get to a climactic moment that pays homage to Buster Keaton’s “The General,” but with a modern twist. Because of how much we’ve engaged with the characters, though, we care about more than just the spectacle. That’s why this franchise sets itself apart from so many others. It doesn’t have to hit us over the head with platitudes about why these characters care about one another, and the mission. They just do. And I can’t wait to see how Cruise, McQuarrie and co. stick the landing.
