Cruise delivers this summer’s promised blockbuster.

With global intelligence networks being easily infiltrated but otherwise left alone, rumors of an artificial intelligence system being responsible has the world’s governments in a panic. A few forward-thinkers want to believe this tool can be controlled, preferring to take charge of it instead of destroying it, but the key is presumed lost for a lock no one knows exists. IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has a new mission — should he choose to accept it — to follow pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell) to a potential buyer (Esai Morales) hoping to discover what the mystery key unlocks. He’ll need the help of disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and techie Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) while avoiding crossing the paths of The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), henchman Paris (Pom Klementieff), and Agent Briggs (Shea Whigham). With nothing less than the perception of truth itself at stake, Ethan must choose between a ghost from his past or a ghost in every machine.

It’s true Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse beat the Impossible Mission Force into theaters and are way ahead in revenues, but many also-rans this summer have fallen short of expectations very quickly. Fresh off last year’s Top Gun: Maverick (and arguably the last big movie star in Hollywood), Tom Cruise has all the confidence in his seventh M:I film — his fourth collaboration with director Christopher McQuarrie — and has been telling everyone to see it and all the big July films following it… never mind that Dead Reckoning will be directly competing with Oppenheimer for IMAX space within ten days. Fortified with not one but three Marvel Studios actors rounding out the principle cast, is the latest Impossible entry more than just Cruise control, or is Tom about to get knocked off his mountain?

Looking like a blend of John Wick and Daniel Craig’s James Bond films, McQuarrie taps into the best of both, from exotic locations to cold war spy-craft and a dollop of War Games. Cruise has mastered his own version of Harrison Ford’s “Oh shit!” Indiana Jones expression — befuddled speechless surprise — which Tom used to great effect in Maverick and again here. Unlike John Wick (no offense intended), Cruise doesn’t make it look effortless, struggling more in character than out of it during stunt sequences due to being saddled with another character he’s trying to protect. Audiences won’t have time to think about much of this during the two-hour, forty-three minute film because it’s edited seamlessly and demands to be seen again once the credits roll, never mind knowing full well it’s only Part One.

M:I-7 is also the “Ladies of Marvel” show, with Hayley Atwell reminding everyone “Agent Carter” was better than you remember, Vanessa Kirby is more than gold body paint, and Pom Klementieff couldn’t wait to trade her antennas to become a kick-ass Bond Girl… wait, let’s call them Impossible Girls (with apologies to “Doctor Who.”) Speaking of which, it’s clearly the year of Rebecca Ferguson too, between her part in Dead Reckoning, Dune Part 2, and Hugh Howey’s “Silo” on Apple TV+. While Simon Pegg’s Benji is often played for comic relief, there are an unusual number of sight gags throughout, including a few vehicle choices and the time-honored effort to make Henry Czerny’s Kittridge look like the ass he often is. Hey, did you know Cary Elwes is in it, too? Moving along…

The film is big, knows it’s big, and (yes it’s a cliché) demands to be seen on the largest screen you can find with the best sound system you can find. Less serious in tone than Fallout, it benefits from all the old-school action films that came before it, including the title television series upon which the movies are based. With the Writer’s Strike into a third month and SAG-AFTRA looking like they’ll strike as well, it may be a while before we get Part Two, but that just means we can watch Part One over and over again.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some language, suggestive material, and sitting on the edge of your seat for almost three hours.

Four skull recommendation out of four

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