Movie Review: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

One of the better Mission Impossible movies.

I admit to not being the biggest fan of the previous couple films in this franchise, so I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this one (especially since Christopher McQuarrie (who directed the previous two movies) directed this one too). One of the main reasons I liked this one better was that it was more of an ensemble film than an Ethan Hunt film. Despite liking Tom Cruise as an actor and always being very impressed by his stunt work and insistence on practical effects instead of CGI, I can't help but find the character he plays in these movies quite boring. There is little about this character to make him interesting outside of the big action scenes. However I personally find the side characters (of both his friends and his enemies) much more interesting and fun and luckily those characters get more time to shine here. These characters even get some good comedic moments, that gave this entry some of the levity this franchise often needs more of. It also didn't hurt that for an action film like this, the story is fairly good. While this story is nothing that action fans haven't seen before, it does its job quite well. The idea of a rouge AI that can rewrite reality and make it so the heroes don't know who to trust is a very interesting idea. It also gave this movie the largest amount of actually suspense the franchise has had in quite a while. Yes, it is farfetched and a little corny, but this is still a big budget action movie we are talking about, so it fits very well. The action scenes are of course very well done (though a few go on too long). The use of practical effects and the fact that the actors (especially Tom Cruise) did many of their own stunts, does make them feel more real and impressive than if they had been done by CGI. Even if someone isn't movie savvy and can't spot the difference they can still feel it. These action scenes are incredibly large scale and the effort can easily be felt.

However this movie does have pacing issues. There is no need for the film to be as long as it is. Certain scenes feel way too drawn out. The opening scenes (before the opening credits) definitely go on too long as does a car chase that starts off fun but goes on past when the excitement is gone. An action packed film like this should never drag but it is simply hard to keep the excitement going throughout this long of a run time. There is also too much corny and cliché dialogue that simply sounds like it is taking itself too darn seriously (something this type of action film should never do). 

While this film shares many of the same faults as the other movies in the franchise, there is a lot to still enjoy here making this one of the better movies in the series.