Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Director
Top Cast
Dead Reckoning Part One arrives with the weight of expectation and franchise legacy. Following the kinetic precision of Fallout, this entry expands the scale but loses the narrative and emotional tightness that previously defined the series. There are standout moments, but they’re strung together by a story that’s far too interested in setup and exposition—and far too uninterested in characters.
What Stands Out
Stunt Design & Action Execution Tom Cruise remains a physical force. The now-iconic motorcycle jump off a cliff is spectacular, and the Venice alleyway chase is cleanly staged. These sequences remind you what this series does best—real stunts, tight framing, and controlled chaos.
Globe-Trotting Locations The film travels through deserts, European capitals, underground trains, and ice-cold waters. Visually, it feels big and expensive. From Rome to the Arctic, the cinematography delivers a grounded, textural realism.
Hayley Atwell’s Introduction As Grace, Atwell brings levity and energy to a cast that’s otherwise stuck in grim exposition. Her chemistry with Cruise is subtle but fresh—she’s the one character who seems to evolve over the runtime.
Score & Sound Design Lorne Balfe’s pulse-pounding score keeps scenes moving even when the script falters. The train finale, in particular, benefits from a soaring audio mix that pushes the tension higher than the narrative earns.
What Doesn’t Work
Convoluted Setup with Minimal Payoff Most of Part One is setup for Part Two, which leaves it feeling unresolved. There’s an AI threat called “The Entity,” a MacGuffin split in two, and layers of double-crossing and misdirection. But very little lands emotionally or thematically—just a lot of talking about danger without ever feeling it.
Flat Villain and Stakes Esai Morales plays the film’s central antagonist, but his connection to Ethan Hunt is only sketched in late and with little impact. He’s more concept than character. The Entity, meanwhile, is intangible. There's no strong face to the threat, and no ideology driving it.
Too Much, Too Often At 2 hours 45 minutes, the pacing is uneven. There are multiple lengthy info-dumps, prolonged action scenes that outstay their welcome, and dialogue exchanges that feel more mechanical than meaningful. It’s a film that keeps moving, but rarely progressing.
Underutilised Ensemble Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg return but feel sidelined. Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa has emotional weight, but her arc is rushed and poorly handled. New additions like Pom Klementieff as a near-silent assassin feel like undercooked ideas rather than real characters.
Themes & Analysis
Man vs. Machine The film tries to engage with AI as a global threat—one that manipulates data, surveillance, and identity. It’s a timely idea, but the exploration is surface-level. There’s no deep philosophical or emotional interrogation of what AI means in this world—it’s mostly an excuse to build suspense.
Control, Legacy & Mortality Ethan Hunt’s loyalty to his team and code is once again central. There are moments that suggest a reckoning with age, consequence, and loyalty—but they’re brief and quickly overshadowed by spectacle.
What Could Be Better
- Less exposition, more storytelling through action
- A clear and compelling villain
- Shorter runtime with tighter pacing
- More emotional grounding for the supporting cast
- Resolve some storylines rather than punting everything to Part Two
Final Thoughts
Dead Reckoning Part One has the pieces of a great Mission: Impossible entry, but not the glue. It’s visually polished and technically excellent, but narratively overextended and emotionally undercooked. As a two-part story, it struggles to stand on its own—and what’s here feels like a shadow of what came before. It entertains, but rarely engages.
My score: ★★★☆☆ out of 5
Published: June 16, 2025