(Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures)
(“Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” trailer courtesy of Paramount Pictures)
In “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One,” Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) mission, if he chooses to accept, is to save the world from an entity, built on artificial intelligence, capable of intercepting intelligence from any country or organization it so chooses.
The entity is so scary that it basically has a mind of its own, making it basically uncontrollable.
However, if Ethan and his crew can c0ntain the entity, the mission in “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” would have to be darn near flawless.
“Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” literally begins with a bang.
Servicemen on a submarine detect an enemy submarine in an area of the Bering Sea that should be impossible for a submarine to operate in.
However, when the servicemen decide to fire missiles at the enemy submarine, the missiles never reach its destination.
Furthermore, when the servicemen look for the enemy submarine on their radars, it suddenly becomes invisible, or at least undetectable.
When the apprehensive servicemen breathe a sigh of relief thinking that they have averted catastrophe, they soon realize that somehow their own missiles have changed course, like a boomerang, and somehow have turned its murderous sights on the very submarine that they came from.
Unfortunately, missile launches typically do not have happy endings.
But as the servicemen find their final resting place deep in the ocean, the cameras focus on a key draped around one of the serviceman’s neck as if it is a piece and chain.
That key will be the key to understanding all the drama and action in “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One.”
The key is the key to harnessing the power of the entity and managing its capabilities.
While the entity is acting on its own, it is a threat to every government and every governmental agency in the world.
As a result, every country and every criminal want to possess the key so that they can use artificial intelligence to rule the world in a way that has never been seen before.
The problem is the key has two parts to it.
And without both parts, the key is useless, and the entity will continue to run rampant throughout the world.
In fact, the entity has not even shown the world what it is truly capable of.
The catastrophe in the Bering Sea is basically a wakeup call to let all the serious players on the world stage know that it is here, and as a result governmental intelligence and military capabilities will never be the same.
In “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One,” Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czery) has learned that Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) is in possession of one part of the key.
Intelligence shows that she is somewhere in the deserts of Yemen.
Unfortunately, because of the key’s value, mercenaries are hot on Ilsa’s track.
But if Ethan can somehow find Ilsa, he could hopefully secure one portion of the key, which might put his country one step closer to containing the entity and keeping it out of the hands of their adversaries.
But Kittridge keeps the true value of the key secret from Ethan.
However, when he finally realizes what he has gotten himself into, he knows that he must possess the full key to stop it from leading to the end of the world as he knows it.
Over the last quarter century, the “Mission Impossible” franchise has been one of the most successful and popular movie franchises.
If Cruise only did “Mission Impossible” films, it would probably be enough because they rarely, if ever, disappoint.
While ranking “Mission Impossible” films is obviously subjective, fans would not get any pushback from RegalMag.com if they rank “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” number one.
Although many recent films have integrated the dangers of artificial intelligence into the storyline, the cool that exists in “Mission Impossible” films makes the usage a little more sophisticated than in other films.
And even though many action films deal with the end of the world as it is known situation, the real dangers and uncertainty about artificial intelligence makes the dilemma faced in the “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” plot scarier and more believable because the dangers are realistic even off the movie screen.
The action scenes are what one would expect from a “Mission” movie.
The train fight scene, however, is like a scene in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”
A scene in which a steering wheel is handcuffed to Ethan’s wrist is like a scene in “Rush Hour.”
But even if some of the scenes are derivative, it does not matter because of the greatness of the movie from top to bottom.
Cruise is obviously the star attraction, but he gets stellar performances again out of Ving Rhames (who portrays Luther) and Simon Pegg (who portrays Benji).
Luther’s skills with the technology are next level.
But the new star, if she chooses to accept her position, is Hayley Atwell, who plays the smooth and sexy kleptomaniac, Grace.
The only knock on the movie is the military jargon used at the beginning, which is totally necessary.
However, military jargon might go over some moviegoers’ heads until they watch the movie multiple times.
Thankfully, “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Chapter One” does not fall into the predictable trap, as the least likely characters prove to have nefarious intentions concerning the entity.
And the movie benefits from the connection that Cruise has with filmmaker Christopher McQuarie.
Some filmmakers and actors have a connection, creating like a one-two punch.
Ryan Coogler has it with Michael B. Jordan.
The late, great John Singleton wanted that type of partnership with the late, great Tupac Shakur.
Spike Lee has it with Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes.
That Cruise/McQuarie combination makes every mission from “Top Gun: Maverick” to “Jack Reacher” a certain successful mission.
And “Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Chapter One” is no exception.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
