Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – A sentient AI called The Entity is loose and wrecking havoc. Nothing digital can be trusted. All nations seek to control it, but Ethan Hunt seeks to destroy it. But how? And where would you start? Hunted by lethal hitman Gabriel, The Entity’s human envoy, Hunt must join forces with an unwitting thief and protect his team from an assault on all sides.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) – Director: Christopher McQuarrie

By Deadline, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73287380

Rating: 12A

Running Length: 163 mins

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales

Genres: Action, Thriller

REVIEW: ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE’

Another Mission: Impossible movie has landed and by golly, don’t they keep the standard high? The worst you can say about any new MI film is that it isn’t as good as whichever one in the franchise is your personal favourite.

This time around it’s a rogue self-aware AI programme called The Entity that is causing a ruckus. As the first part of a two parter, there is room in ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ to take time and build tone. From a strong and mysterious opening to an element of ‘this time it’s personal’ backstory for protagonist Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), everything feels suitably weighty and important.

Newcomer Hayley Atwell adds some welcome energy as a master thief caught up in a very dangerous world. She pairs well with Cruise whether they be rattling down the streets of Venice in a tiny car or battling through a collapsing train. There is always a risk of the established cast getting too comfortable with the life or death situations they fight in, so having a new character to be terrified but skilled helps keep things fresh.

Dead Reckoning is another great Mission: Impossible film. You come for the amazing stunts and spectacularly put together chase sequences and you get that in spades. In this fractious world, isn’t it good to have something like that to rely on?

CONTENT: IS ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

We suspect just the right number of curse words and violent shots were added to ensure that this movie got the more marketable 12A / PG-13 rating, because there was very little content to note.

The opening sequence involves submarines under sea ice. After an explosion, there is a shot of around a dozen bodies splayed in the water with the camera positioned below them. They rise until they bump against the ice. There is no blood or injury detail.

During a flashback sequence a woman is shot and killed. Her face is not seen and no detail is shown.

During the Venice section a man is sat behind his desk when he is surprised by an unexpected guest. After a short conversation the man is suddenly stabbed through the hand into the desk. There is a brief one second close up of this as it happens and the man cries out in pain.

A woman we know to be an assassin is frisked by men who leer at her and place their hands close to her breasts and buttocks. The men are killed shortly after, quickly and non graphically.

A main character and Gabriel fight on a bridge. After a short battle we see that he has a knife in his hand. He forces himself forward onto his opponent, driving the knife into their heart. There is a few seconds shot of their face as they gasp and wince at the impact. They are later found dead.

A character is stabbed and there is a few seconds shown on them lying prone with a knife protruding from them.

During the train sequence there are a few instances of violence:-

Men in the train’s engine are attacked. One is hit with a shovel and pushed out of the window, whereas the other is strung up and hanged. We do not linger on his death – he is quickly shown to be dead. As the hanged man rocks it causes the train’s whistle to sound. There are several moments during the rest of the train sequence when the camera cuts to the hung man rocking with momentum and causing the whistle to blast.

In a train carriage, there is a conversation that reveals information about The Entity. A man is suddenly killed by having his throat slashed. There is a very brief shot of the slice as it happens and he clutches his neck before quickly collapsing to the floor and dying. A few seconds show blood pooling under him.

A woman is betrayed, shot, and left for dead. She collapses onto a seat. There is no blood or injury detail.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?