Movie Review: ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ builds on cast’s chemistry to deliver thrilling and moving film

While heartfelt may not be a popular description for the first part of “Mission: Impossible – Reckoning,” the seventh installment in the “Mission: Impossible” film franchise leaves quite an impression with its quieter and more vulnerable moments, thanks to the chemistry and history between its characters.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt is back together with friends and colleagues from the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), as they face off against an “Entity” of seemingly limitless abilities.

Hunt and his team are seeking to recover a key that is believed to be the answer to controlling the Entity, which is an AI, said to have become intelligent, which has begun wreaking havoc in digital space, having infiltrated the central banks and defense systems of various countries.

The search for the key leads the team into action-packed encounters with interesting characters, including a new character from Hunt’s past, Gabriel (Esai Morales), who is on the Entity’s side.

With an AI villain in the picture, Hunt’s group finds themselves in a battle of wits like no other. The team, which includes tech expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), has to make the necessary changes to their strategy and setup to evade the Entity.

The scenes with Stickell and Dunn bring the necessary humor in the midst of the chaos. The trio’s friendship seems sincere, especially in moments when they are conversing more like friends than colleagues.

Cruise also shows great chemistry with Rebecca Ferguson and Hayley Atwell, who play the roles of Ilsa Faust and Grace, respectively.

It is very evident in the scenes between Hunt and Faust, who first appeared in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”, just how much they care for each other.

Rebecca Ferguson and Tom Cruise show great chemistry. Image: Paramount Pictures

On the other hand, audiences get to witness newcomer Grace, who finds herself in a situation beyond her imagination, and Hunt’s relationship progress between key events.

However, it would have been nice if there were more interactions between Grace and Faust, both of whom are strong female characters.

The film, overall, can underscore the strong bond between Hunt and his team, including Faust and eventually Grace, giving Hunt’s disinterested comments more weight.

The film, which is over two and a half hours long, has several scenes that can take the cake for being the most memorable, but the epic car chase scene, for me, slightly outranks the others.

Grace (Hayley Atwell) and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in an epic car chase scene. Image: Paramount Pictures

While being chased by various parties, Hunt and Grace get into some big exchanges, in terms of lanes and who takes the wheel.

However, French actress Pom Klementieff steals the scene as the driver behind the huge black Hummer. As Paris, an assassin in league with Gabriel, she is fearless and relentless.

The use of various camera shots, angles, and movements further emphasizes the experience and feelings of the characters, as well as adding more detail and context to events or situations.

Additionally, the film also features new stunts that Cruise, as in previous installments, performed himself.

At the beginning of the official trailer for the film, the actor is seen riding a motorcycle and stopping at the edge of a cliff. Cruise would eventually jump off the cliff while he was aboard his motorcycle and deploy a parachute.

During filming, as mentioned in a press release, Cruise rode his motorcycle up a ramp, with the production set up on a mountain in Norway, and jumped “4,000 feet into the ravine below before opening his parachute a mere 500 feet from the sky.” floor”.

The action star is said to have tried the stunt seven more times to make sure they got the shot they needed. Cruise would further challenge himself with fast flight, which is “gliding down the sides of mountains” using “a very small canopy”.

“One of the things that is particularly dangerous about fast flight is the proximity to the ground that you are flying on. And the other is the risk of the canopy collapsing. It’s very unpredictable,” shared the film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, through a press release.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” follows, after five years, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”, which was also directed by McQuarrie. Other cast members include Vanessa Kirby, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Henry Czerny, who reprized his role in the first installment. /ra

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