If there is one actor who really cares about the movies and their continued success, it is Tom Cruise, and he is one of the biggest stars we have left that continually draws a massive crowd to the box office. His last major success was Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to a movie that came out in the 80s, and after this, legendary director Steven Spielberg said that Tom Cruise saved Hollywood. So it is safe to say that not only does he command a large amount of respect from his peers, but he also keeps the movies going. Dead Reckoning Part One opened to huge praise, like people calling it the best action movie ever.
It starts out with a submarine in the arctic that has a new technology that allows it to go undetected, and it does so by using AI. Then all of a sudden, a submarine appears on their radar, and it fires a torpedo at them, so they fire a counter measure to block the incoming torpedo and launch their own torpedo, but then the other sub disappears off the radar screen, and their missile turns around and strikes their own sub causing it to explode. It turns out that the AI that was created became sentient, and it created the fake sub and controlled the missile, thus burying the key and the ability to control the AI at the bottom of the ocean.
Ethan Hunt is then delivered a mission to go find Ilsa, because she has half of the key, but she has vanished off the grid. So Hunt goes into the desert and finds her, but there was a bounty placed on her head, so he has to fend off a group of bounty hunters, before getting to her and the key. He takes the half key back to headquarters, but in disguise, and he finds out what it used for, and he goes on the search for the missing half. While doing this, he meets Grace, a professional theft and pick pocketer. They go to meet with a buyer to get the other half of the key, but the buyer gets killed, and it is a race for Hunt and Grace to get out of the airport, and they end up flying to Rome, where there is supposed to be another buyer, but this buyer is one of Hunt’s oldest enemies, and this is where the mission really starts to become impossible, once they make it to the party in Venice.
There are three main types of action in movies: hand to hand combat, gun fighting, and car chases, and of course this movie had all of the above. The first set piece came in the desert from a gun fight. There were assassins trying to kill Ilsa, and there is a giant fight as a massive sandstorm moves in. There is almost no visibility, and Hunt and Ilsa pick off the assassins one by one in a battle that I loved due to my appreciation of the desert’s beauty. The next big action set piece is a car chase through Rome. There are motorcycles, an armored hummer, a small fiat, and so many cop cars. The massive group flies through the city taking twists and turns all while crashing. Then the movie finishes with a wide array of hand-to-hand combat scenes. There is the one that takes place during the massive party, and then there is the one on top of the train. All of these were really enjoyable and well done.
The only problem with these action sequences was that in some instances, they had been done earlier this year, and in one case, they were done better. Fast X had a car chase scene through the streets of Rome, but it was terrible. I literally fell asleep as they drove through the CGI streets of Rome. This version was so much better because, it looked so much better, and it was so much more fun. There was no chance I was falling asleep. Then they did a fight scene at a party, and this was done in John Wick Chapter 4, and I am going to have to give the win to John Wick on that one. This was not the only thing done that was like John Wick, there was also the car chase that was similar, and I think the Wick one was able to provide more creativity and destruction. The action in Wick is just better. It is close, and there are no stunts like the cliff jump, but I do give it the edge over Mission Impossible. The gun fighting and hand fighting is unparalleled, and as far as the club scene goes, Wick is the king of night fighting in the neon lights as people dance around.
This movie does take something more seriously than Fast X and John Wick, and that is the value of human life. Wick and Fast X could not care less what the body count was, and in the case of Fast X, they literally laughed about a kid blowing up a car that had people in it. In Wick, the body count is off the charts, but they at least do not make light of it. In Dead Reckoning, for the amount of destruction there is, it seems like the death toll is minimal, at least by the hands of Hunt. This is admirable, it is so easy to take lives for granted in movies, so it is always refreshing to see a hero who cares for everyone. He shows Grace this by telling her that if she joins the group that he will protect her life like it is more important than his own.
The stunts in this movie are great as well, but they do give away the best one in the trailer, and it was leaked like two years ago, but the motor bike scene where he jumps off the mountain is incredible. Like I was giddy in my seat when the mountains were even shown on screen, because I knew what was coming. There is quite the lead up to get to that point, but when it comes, it is worth it, and it evens has a comedic payoff, which this movie did surprisingly well. I was not expecting a Mission Impossible movie to be this funny. It was by no means a comedy, but it had some jokes. My favorite of which was when the Fiat is rolling down the stairs with Hunt and Grace in it, and when the car stops rolling, Hunt and Grace had some how landed in the opposite seats, so now Grace was driving, and she was terrible at driving the Fiat and ended up doing donuts, when they should have been getting away.
Also I would be remiss not to talk about the running. It is in Tom Cruise’s contract that no matter what the movie is about he has to run at full speed for some duration of time. He is 61 years old, and he looks blazing fast, like I feel like he could beat me in a 400 kind of fast. Like if he were to race Usain Bolt when Usain Bolt turns 61, I think Tom Cruise would win. My favorite running scene was when he was running across the top of the airport. Plus the shot of his silhouette on the roof glass as the agents below him are searching for him, that was funny. Then it hard cuts, and he is Rome. I think he might have run to Rome.
Did this movie live up to the best action movie ever hype no, but that is not an easy thing to do. It is without a doubt a great action movie though. It excels in so many ways visually and personally. It is not just great action, but it has its subtle comedic notes, and its strong personal relationships. Everyone in this movie gives it their all, and it shows. Cruise clearly sets a high standard, and it helps to raise those that are around him. I saw it in IMAX, and I recommend that everyone else does as well. It is a spectacle to behold, and it is best seen on the biggest screen possible with the biggest sound possible, and the villain is relevant as AI slowly takes over our world, so it can even add to your daily stresses. I gave this movie 4 Stars, which ranks it pretty highly among other movies this year.
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