The Writers Guild of America is currently on strike. One element of the entertainment industry that greatly concerns the WGA is the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence. Could AI eventually be used to write television and movie scripts? Could it take jobs away? There is a belief amongst some that it is better to put in place control measures before things get that far.

It is only natural that WGA members fear AI – they have been writing about the coming machine apocalypse for a long time. Perhaps there is no group more versed in just how badly things might go than those who placed the horrors of Skynet, HAL, the Matrix, ED-209, and so many other evil (semi-)sentient computers on the big screen.

Such tales make for great fodder because, to put it bluntly, humanity tends to be stupid; to think first and ask questions later; to move fast and break things. Will we, eventually, let the genie out of the bottle with no way to put it back? Will we be the authors of our own doom no matter how many times we have been warned?

It would not be terribly surprising, would it? A greatly many in the United States would choose to reelect a man in 2024 who attempted to shred the Constitution and end the Republic during his last term in office. We are a moth, drawn inexorably to the flame.

Perhaps this is why the latest entry in Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” franchise finds itself imagining another scenario in which humanity may be destroyed by thinking machines. Here, a computer program known as “The Entity” is forcing humans to do its bidding as it seeks to ensure its own survival (and, potentially, supremacy). Anything attached to the internet, anything digital, could possibly become a tool of The Entity. Naturally, it comes down to Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his IMF team to try to save the day.

Back for this outing, entitled “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” are Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Ving Rhames (the only other person to have appeared in all the “M:I” films) as Luther Stickell, and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. The reunion doesn’t stop there though as other franchise favorites returning include Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny. And, because that’s not possibly enough, also appearing in the film are Esai Morales, Charles Parnell, Indira Varma, Pom Klementieff, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Rob Delaney, and Cary Elwes (to name a few).

Put another way, this is a truly stuffed movie, one full of callbacks to earlier moments in the franchise, car chases, death defying feats, and a plot that is more than a little complicated. Not only that, but as the “Part One” in the title indicates, while part of the story may finish here, Ethan Hunt has a long way to go before he truly saves the world again.

Ah, with so many facts and such a long preamble out of the way, you’re wondering if its any good, whether the IMF still has it more than a quarter century after Cruise first brought the TV series to the big screen. The short answer is: yes.

“Dead Reckoning Part One” undeniably lacks some of the propulsive nature that make “Ghost Protocol” and “Rogue Nation” two of the top entries in the franchise (films four and five), but it is better than both the second, third, and probably sixth ones. There is no single stand out moment like Hunt on the outside of the Burj Khalifa, or on the outside of an airplane as it takes off, or dropping into a secure room at the CIA; however, there are a few truly excellent action sequences, including a new train fight and a car chase through Rome.

While some of the above mentioned actors appear but briefly in the film, there are so many memorable characters. Franchise newcomers Morales and Atwell are undeniable standouts, but calling out those two specifically without mentioning Whigham nor Klementieff feels wrong.
The script, written by Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen, knows exactly when they are aping a moment from the franchise’s past and when they are creating something we have not previously seen. McQuarrie, who once again is directing the movie, keeps things moving so that the two hour and 36 minute runtime feels significantly shorter than that. And, while this is indeed only “Part One,” it largely feels like it could be a complete work – while there is still an evil out there to be taken care of, one leaves the theater with a sense of fulfillment.

That, perhaps, is the movie’s greatest achievement – it fulfills the audience while leaving them wanting more. It hits so many of the notes that one expects from a “Mission: Impossible” movie while leaving space for a bigger and better adventure down the line.

No franchise over the course of the last 50 years (or perhaps ever) has delivered as solid a series of movies as “Mission: Impossible.” There are, as noted, highs and lows, but they are all quite rewatchable and “Dead Reckoning Part One” continues in that tradition.

The films don’t just deliver on spectacle and excitement, they offer insight into the dangers of the moment, sometimes on a realistic level and sometimes not. Watching a “Mission: Impossible” movie we know that Ethan Hunt and the IMF will win the day, even as they try to take down an artificial intelligence that wants to run the world. If only things were more certain in our world, if only one could be as positive that the writers who avert disaster on screen can do so in reality as well.

photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Categories: review

Tags: Cary Elwes, Christopher McQuarrie, Ethan Hunt, film, film review, Hayley Atwell, Henry Czerny, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, movie, movie review, Pom Klementieff, Rebecca Ferguson, review, reviews, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames