Review of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) by Royalguy07 — 12 Jul 2023

Dead Reckoning has the typical flair of the later stage MI movies while returning to its roots of a more paranoid and espionage based action thriller. The cast is perfectly assembled and the acting, framing, and score are working together in full harmony. Maybe the best of the MI scores to date. You really do not feel the longer runtime at all here, perfect pacing.

An AI villain is the perfect capstone for Ethan and the MI franchise and it lends itself well here, even if the phrase "The Entity" is mentioned a couple (hundred) times too many.

The opening 30 minutes are pretty choppy in terms of writing and exposition. The movie stutters every time Cary Elwes is on screen for a prolonged info dump. The action is a little bit of a step down from prior entries but the train escape sequence is one of the franchises best, and the motorcycle base jump was incredible, even if a little too short.

Once again the MI casting team did an incredible job, Atwell, Morales, Klementieff and Whigham are natural fits for the franchise, with Atwell shining through with a true star performance as the de facto second lead.

Definitely the funniest of the last couple installments, with several intentional comedic moments and gags worked throughout.

Need to watch this again without to weight of my Fallout based expectations.