Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One review: Tom Cruise fights the AI in a slick action thriller

In Tom Cruise's latest screen outing Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie addresses the elephant in the room. With the world talking about how AI is slowly taking up our jobs, McQuarrie just goes a step further and makes AI, known as The Entity in the film, the main antagonist. While M:I 7 remains true to its franchise and serves a high-octane, thrilling action flick which can seem slightly impractical in reality, it also weirdly gives a reality check to the viewers of what could be in store for the world in the near future, thanks to artificial intelligence. 

Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his small team are tasked to look for a key that controls the entity. If placed in the wrong hands, it can lead to tragedy of catastrophic proportions and a world war, so it is important to hand the key to the right person who can prevent a war. The ornate-looking key is in two halves and can work only if it is conjoined. Hunt along with his usual team comprising of Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther( Ving Rhames) and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) literally runs across Europe to find the key. The fear is unknown to everyone and since the antagonist is not human but AI, the task is harder as The Entity thinks one step ahead of the human mind. 

There are also other players- each looking for the key for their own agenda- from the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) from M:I 6 to Grace (Hayley Atwell) a new entrant into the franchise and a smart thief to an assassin who talks less but kills more. There is Gabriel, who is an ally to the AI and also links Hunt to his traumatic past. There are also two CIA cops, chasing Hunt across Europe as he travels from one country to the other in search of the key. Some of the chase sequences stick to the traditional template, with Cruise performing death-defying stunts while others infuse humour intelligently to make the long scenes more entertaining. An elaborate search operation in a busy Abu Dhabi airport leads to hilarious goof-ups. A car chase scene in Rome also stands out, not for its skilful camerawork but for the irony. Watch out for these two scenes in the first half of the film. 



Cruise, surprisingly, is restrained as Hunt- the super agent who has defied gravity and death successfully in so many of the M:I films in the past. In Dead Reckoning, Cruise and the makers seem to pave the way for a new generation which may or may not include Hunt. The actor is 60 and it, perhaps, makes sense to take a backseat and let the newbies take charge slowly. Of course, age does not limit the man, who performs some of the most challenging stunts that anyone can imagine, with absolute grace and perfection. From free-falling from a cliff with a bike to engaging in mortal combat with men double his size but half his age, Cruise owns his character and dominates every frame he is part of. 

At 2 hours 30 minutes, the film, though, feels slightly stretched as the chase sequences after a point of time feel repetitive. The film is also glossy, thanks to the camera work of Fraser Taggar. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered paving the way for Part Two. Despite its predictable course, Dead Reckoning, though, still provides an ample amount of thrills. It isn't as impactful as Top Gun: Maverick - Cruise's last screen outing - but it sticks to basics and provides for a slick thriller. 

Should you be watching Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning? Yes, because it serves Tom Cruise, once again, in all his glory, age, illogical stunts, predictability and CGI notwithstanding. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is releasing in theatres on July 12.