Spoilers ahead.

Published: 17/07/2023

Dare I say, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is the film of the summer? Barbenheimer, the cinematic event of the year, is just around the corner on the 21st of the month. Which are the obvious and predicted front runners at the box office this summer. However, the seventh instalment of the Mission Impossible franchise proves that it can holds its own against Greta Gerwig’s and Christopher Nolan’s new releases.

We see the team from the previous two instalments return, Ethan (Tom Cruise), Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), along side newbie Grace (Hayley Atwell) with the mission to fight against an A.I. that has gone rogue which brings back Ethan’s past in its wake. It may seem like an impossible task to be able to think and perform stunts that are bigger and better than before but as Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie have shown time and time again it’s no problem for them.

It goes without saying one of the most notable moments in the film was the motorbike cliff stunt which has been featured heavily in the promotion. The train scene as a whole sticks in my mind especially. With the stakes as high as they are in the third act, believe it or not the motorbike stunts were not the most stress inducing moment in the scene. With such an isolated environment and being cut off from half of the team the death defying action sequences that take place on the tracks successfully keeps the tension rising making the film a real nail biter.

I do believe the biggest flaw, that is hard to over look, is the death of Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust who we first meet two films earlier in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015). Ilsa’s death felt like an opportunity to see a more emotional and an intimate side to the main trio which isn’t the case. We get a brief moment of Ethan with Ilsa and a moment of how it has effected Grace with Benji. Which leads to what should’ve been a monumental moment to feel disregard and heavily glossed over. I wish it had been expanded on and hope that the fall out and affect it has is carried over to part two more than it was shown in part one.

Letterboxd Review on Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, dir. Christopher McQuarrie

Release: 10th July 2023

Lara Edwards.