Review: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Tom Cruise films never fail to amaze me and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is no exception because it is now one of the best films I've seen this year.

I love action movies. Some of my favourite films are action movies and if you were to ask me who my favourite actors/actresses are, I'd say Tom Cruise.

I have yet to watch a Tom Cruise film that I've disliked and the Mission: Impossible franchise is one of my top movie franchises ever.

So it was no surprise that when Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One came out, I desperately wanted to see it. And usually for films being released in the cinema, I'd wait until they were available on a streaming service or the likes of Sky.

However, with it being the seventh instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, my family and I went to the cinema to see it on the big screen.

And how wonderful it was.

Review of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was a fantastic film. It brings together all the key characters from the previous movies, such as Benji, Luther and Ilsa, and also introduces some new characters, one of whom is from Ethan Hunt's life before he joined the IMF, adding another twist to the film.

The premise of the movie is for Ethan - Tom Cruise's character - to retrieve a key, split into two parts, to stop a new enemy called The Entity. The Entity is essentially AI (artificial intelligence) that could ultimately rule the world.

Ethan and his friends have to retrieve the key but upon doing so, they meet Hayley Atwell's character, Grace. She's a new addition to the IMF gang and by the end of the film becomes integral to the organisation and their friend group.

Now, what I love about Tom Cruise films are the stunts and authenticity of the action. In the Mission: Impossible movies, Tom Cruise doesn't half-arse a job - he goes all in. And in Dead Reckoning: Part One there are so many stunts and action sequences that as a viewer blow your mind.

One, in particular, was the motorcycle scene where Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle up a mountain and launches himself off the cliff to then parachute down onto a moving train.

This scene was spectacular. Any stunt a character that Tom Cruise plays does in a film is always incredible because you know Tom, himself, has done the stunt. And as the video shows, Tom Cruise did actually ride the motorbike off a cliff and base jump onto the train.

I could go on forever about the action sequences, like the one in the falling train, but I want to focus on the other aspects of the movie.

Another aspect of the Mission: Impossible films that I love is the friendship and comedy. Simon Pegg's character, Benji, is a great example of comedy through character. In every film Simon Pegg is in, Benji's character adds humour to the tense and fast-paced action. He delivers one-liners and humorous anecdotes throughout that do make you laugh.

Ving Rhames' character, Luther, also adds a comedic effect as well as Tom Cruise. And these comedy elements add momentary relief to the drama making the films more enjoyable as a whole, and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is no exception.

The friendship aspect of the films is conveyed through the actors' relationships off-screen, being friends with each other, but also with the closeness of characters and how they're always there to back the other up. Ethan, Benji, Luther, Ilsa - and now Grace - support each other and fight together, no matter the costs and that's evident in the seventh instalment of the franchise when Benji, Luther and Ilsa turn up in a van to rescue Ethan.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is one of my top films this year - just below Top Gun: Maverick - and I can safely say it won't disappoint. It is definitely worth the watch if you love action movies!

Until next time...