I certainly can’t be the first film writer to notice a connection between the meta subtext of the new M:I installment and the dual labor strikes currently blocking Hollywood productions, and it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise’s semi-scab entreaties to allow him to shill for his most beloved project. As most everyone probably knows by now, the “heavy” of the new film is an A.I. program called the Entity that various players, including Ethan Hunt’s (Cruise) Impossiblle Missions Force, are trying to gain control of by obtaining a “key” that unlocks its powers. Aside from copying the basic plot points of the latest Transformers epic, the whole premise feels like a comment on how blockbusters are made these days, since the Entity is characterized as having no “designs” on anything. Whether it serves the forces of good or evil, it simply follows its algorithmic programming, and it’s difficult to come away from Dead Reckoning Part One without wondering how much of the script was written by A.I. Of course, none of it probably was, but it could have been, given how meticulously it adheres to the established M:I formula—or, at least, the formula since Cruise turned it into the most successful action movie franchise of all time. Compared to the original TV series, which was always about difficult assignments that tended to only affect intra-national politics or economies (for the benefit of the U.S., of course), M:I the movie series is always about nothing less than saving the world.

Consequently, the plot, as it were, is totally beside the point; especially in this case, which, as the title helpfully informs us, marks the first of a two-part finale, and as I’ve learned from having seen almost all of the previous installments, I’m probably not going to remember much about this one besides the big set pieces when Part Two opens next spring (WGA and SAG-AFTRA willing). Fortunately, the generic nature of A.I.-driven stories is such that I probably don’t have to, because no one in Part One seems to really understand the ramifications of the Entity, all of which, we assume, will be explained in Part Two. So I felt comfortable, if not within my rights, ignoring what would normally be characterized as “development” here: the meetings between Hunt and his supposed betters in the U.S. intelligence community, who never trust him to do as they say; not to mention a convergence in Venice of almost all the people with a stake in the Entity, including the main human villain, Gabriel (Esai Morales), and the freelance thief/romantic interest, Grace (Hayley Atwell), none of whom miss the opportunity to inform Hunt that he’s in over his head—classic last words that nevertheless mean nothing because Hunt likes nothing better than to be in over his head. He proves this truism with a daredevil car chase through the streets of Rome that impresses, though not as much as comparable car chases in any number of current Korean action films, which, to me, have cornered the market on vehicular mayhem, 2 Fast 2 Furious notwithstanding. Suffice to say that the action in M:I is limited to incidents wherein Hunt and his team have to get out of scrapes rather than achieve whatever mission they’ve been charged with, an idea that allows the story to be stretched out over five hours or so (Part One is almost three). 

I’m tempted to say all these digressions and narrative dead spots become moot in the shadow of the final set piece, which is set on a runaway train and directed within an inch of the lives of everyone involved. This is where, as they say, you get your money’s worth, but given Cruise’s irrepressible urge to share his enthusiasm with the world, we’ve already seen on YouTube and E! how this amazing sequence was created. Such PR gambits no longer count as spoilers, but obviously I’m overthinking the matter. Since there’s no compelling story to pay attention to, there’s nothing to spoil. Part Two can’t come soon enough, because my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Now playing in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku (0570-060-109), Shinjuku Wald 9 (03-5369-4955), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063), Toho Cinemas Shibuya (050-6868-5002), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024).

Mission:Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2023 Paramount Pictures Corporation