VERY GOOD NEW MOVIE -- MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING Part One

Tommy Cruise

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING Part One (2023). Director: Christopher McQuarrie. 

Action movies either work, keeping you on the edge of your seat, or they're as flat as a wet pancake, and this flick works every step of the way. It doesn't really matter that the "Macguffin" -- the thing that everyone's fighting for -- in this might be something called a "Cruciform Key" which has to do with Artificial Intelligence and could take over the minds of everyone on the planet. What matters is the fun ride as the forces of good and evil do their level best to keep the key out of the other side's hands -- just like in an old-time cliffhanger serial, which this kind of resembles despite the high-tech -- and that the pace is fast and the stunt work absolutely thrilling.  

Esai Morales and Hayley Atwell

In this Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) teams up with a pretty thief named Grace (Hayley Atwell) who is an on again/off again ally. Some of his old colleagues are also around for another set-to. Highlights include a vicious fight scene in an alley, a business with a train speeding through a tunnel with combatants on the roof, and a climactic sequence with a collapsing train trestle that is positively eye-popping. It is all so well-done that it's quite spectacular. It doesn't hurt that the film has a rousing score (Lorne Balfe), great cinematography (Fraser Taggart), and some effective performances, with my favorites being Esai Morales as Gabriel and Cary Elwes as Denlinger, the director of National Intelligence. 

Verdict: Trust No One -- and wait anxiously for Part Two. ***1/4.