Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - Cruise franchise loses steam, altitude

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A familiar array of characters, tense situations and peak stunt moments are teased on this poster for Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

A secret AI super computer is going rogue, sinking a state-of-the-art Russian submarine. Control of 'the entity' is a matter of world domination rights. Two split keys are central to that control, and IMF agent Ethan Hunt and Co. will naturally need to do the impossible and secure both of them...

 

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is written by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers (2001, miniseries)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, New Jerseyite master filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun (2000)), whose 5th feature it is. It is the 7th film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, following its strongest entry, masterpiece Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018), also by McQuarrie.

After some increasingly thrilling M:I films, the franchise finally loses its grip here in a mammoth epic length first part of a two-parter, predictably committing the familiar sin of going overboard.

Dead Reckoning has exciting action sequences, co-producer/star Tom Cruise's (Valkyrie (2008)) driving off a mountain on a motorbike being its hype centerpiece, but the film's one really memorable action set-piece is the one near the end, set on the Orient Express, whereas entries 4 (Ghost Protocol, 2011), 5 (Rogue Nation, 2015) and especially 6 (Fallout, 2018) all had 2 or more truly memorable action sequences. The new film has a Rome-set car chase with built-in tongue-in-cheek humor that mirrors a big city chase scene from one Pierce Brosnan-led Bond movie (you guess which.) The fiercely antagonistic CIA operatives of the preceding film have turned into amiable more or less bumbling fools in the shape of Shea Whigham (Fancy Dance (2023)) and Greg Tarzan Davis (Top Gun: Maverick's (2022)). The 'entity' AI McGuffin plot devise, a dialog dense and a bit long Venice section that doesn't come with a clear explanation (except for the obvious one that a franchise of this magnitude naturally at some point needs to go to Venice it seems...) and the quaint Orient Express choice for the finale setting (you'll wonder if that train actually still exists, it's so 20th century) - it all reeks of Hunt's bigger brother opponent in the spy franchise business, Mr. 007. And so does the inflated runtime.

Lorne Balfe (Black Adam (2022)) is back scoring the film but the percussive, muscular sound of Fallout is evaporated. SPOILER Rebecca Ferguson's (The Snowman (2017)) Ilsa Faust gets knocked off. Esai Morales (SuperFly (2018)) is the villain, though he looks so much like a handsome male model, it's hard to find him too intimidating. An androgynous Pom Klementieff (Westworld (2020, TV-series)) and flustered Hayley Atwell (Chicken/Egg (2017, short)) are game as fellow new characters. The rubber face changing scenes (by now old hat) and Cruise running scenes are there, but mostly because they have to be, it seems, and not because clever writing make them necessary in the plot. Another issue for the talk-heavy script is that, despite all the 'entity' talk in Dead Reckoning, it is missing a scene that illustrates for us why the AI thing is so powerful and dangerous, ('Russian sub down' doesn't cut it, as they're the enemy, and they're already on a submarine...) It remains a mysterious McGuffin in an overlong first part picture, the first time yet that the long-running M:I franchise doesn't really score. We have to hope that the second part, set for next summer, is a more original and compelling work.

 

Related posts:

 
Mission: Impossible franchise: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - Cruise and Bird's phenomenal action spectacle

Mission: Impossible III (2006) - Cruise steers Abrams' flawed MacGuffin debut 

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) - Cruise and Woo deliver red-hot action spectacle 
Christopher McQuarrie: Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - Magnificent; a soaring vehicle (co-writer)

Top 10: Best franchise movies

2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess 

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) - McQuarrie and Cruise succeed with another masterly M:I thrill ride 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Cruise and McQuarrie's mega-movie masterpiece 
Jack Reacher (2012) - Highly entertaining, dark hero-vehicle for Tom Cruise

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 291 mil. $

Box office: 273.8 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiered 29 June (Rome) and runs 163 minutes. Shooting began in February 2020 but was shut down due to the China Virus pandemic, and begun again in September 2020, finishing in September 2021, as both Part 1 and Part 2 were shot back-to-back. It took place in Norway, Italy, UAE and England. Corona shutdowns and other problems made the film's costs balloon, becoming the priciest film of Cruise's career. He earns 13 mil. $ from each of the films, and a back end percentage. The film opened #1 to a 54.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America. McQuarrie returns with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 (2024), also set as Cruise's return. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One? 

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - Magnificent; a soaring vehicle

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The world's greatest movie star is ready to deliver something rare and special on this excitement-building poster for Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick

Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell hasn't progressed from being a navy captain, because he belongs in fast airplanes and not behind a desk. Because he is still an extraordinary capacity, he is now tasked with heading a team of young Top Gun pilots on a dangerous mission of great importance.

 

Top Gun: Maverick is written by Ehren Kruger (Scream 3 (2000)), Eric Warren Singer (The International (2009)) and Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie (2008)), with Peter Craig (12 Strong (2018)) and Justin Marks (The Jungle Book (2016)) contributing story elements, and directed by Iowan master filmmaker Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy (2010)), whose 4th feature it is. It is the long-awaited sequel to Tony Scott's Top Gun (1986).

Personally I had not long awaited Top Gun: Maverick, because Top Gun never was a cornerstone film for me, although it is admittedly a great watch. (My early Tom Cruise (Legend (1985)) favorite is Cocktail (1988).) But that doesn't hinder Maverick, which has been in the can and ready to release since June 2020, but has been pushed out until now by the China Virus pandemic - and Cruise's insistence that it should have a wide theatrical release.

That certainly makes sense, when you see it on a big screen, because huge, thrilling flying pictures are simply best seen on a big screen, with all the might of modern sound technology backing up the extraordinary flying scenes.

Top Gun: Maverick will bring goosebumps to many (especially male) audiences just seconds into beginning, just at the sight of the 'Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' credit, set in that old-timey font, to some very recognizable tones, given a terrific new spin. Yes, this is a nostalgia trip, - and that's wonderful. It's also a rare breed of circus animal star vehicle with its share of cheesy moments. But that's as it should be when the film is Top Gun: Maverick. - Most importantly, the film works on all levels:

Cruise is arguably doing some of the best work of his career these years, - in Mission: Impossible films that continue to top each other, and now in Maverick. He is on fire here, and you sense the raw willpower and awesome ambition that lies behind this strong action drama. He has allied himself with some very reliable supporting actors in Ed Harris (Touching Home (2008)), Miles Teller (Get a Job (2016)) and Jennifer Connelly (Ballet (1989)). Teller works great as Rooster, whose father's demise in Top Gun is the source of the dramatic conflict between him and mentor/substitute father figure Maverick here. And Connelly is a very classy, sexy and graceful lady - who has great chemistry with Cruise. Val Kilmer (Standing Up (2013)) makes a powerful appearance as Iceman, who has now become an ailing US admiral. There's a strong team of young bucks (and one cool young woman) on the team of young pilots, each of them looking sharper than the previous one, and giving Cruise, Connelly and Teller competition. The very macho and ambition-driven film looks great from all angles. - But perhaps the supporting actor here who is most wonderful is Jon Hamm (Million Dollar Arm (2014)) as the vice admiral directly responsible for overseeing Maverick's teaching: Hamm's face puckers in so many priceless ways here, as he offers opposition to Cruise's predictable wildness as the man who wants his pilots to complete the dangerous mission - and get back in one piece.

Top Gun: Maverick has warmth, fun, romance - and suspense that jolts you back in your seat and make you grab the armrests, as you sense the G powers ripping through your body, (or rather, those on screen.) It is better than a wild roller coaster. Stupendous shots follow each other as pearls on a string, and you'll be right to bet that a lot of people worked tremendously hard to put this all together on screen. (The cinematography by Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi (2012)) is a blast.) The score, - by Lorne Balfe (Songbird (2020)), Harold Faltermeyer (Fletch Lives (1989)), Lady Gaga - in her first composing credit, singing the film's solid hit Hold My Hand, - and Hans Zimmer (Chappie (2015)), - is a wonderful, strong sound carpet for the film.

Top Gun: Maverick is a blast from the past, in strapping new threads, with top-charged talents in every department. An irresistible ode to brotherhood, teamwork, love, hard work, discipline, America and - more than anything - human excellence. Top Gun: Maverick will likely show to be impossible for Cruise to top in the years to come - and for others, for that matter. It is a pure, high-flying, inspirational masterpiece.

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Joseph Kosinski: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Tron: Legacy (2010) - Feast your eyes on Garrett Hedlund in dazzling sci-fi sequel 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 170 mil. $

Box office: 887.5 mil. $ and counting

= Big hit (has returned 5.22 times its cost to date)

[Top Gun: Maverick premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 131 minutes. Cruise in 1990 called a Top Gun sequel 'irresponsible'. But the sequel was gathering momentum 20 years later, until director Tony Scott's suicide in 2012. The project changed hands, and Kosinski was hired to direct instead. Cruise was paid 13 mil. $ and an undisclosed back-end percentage for his work on the film. Shooting took place from September 2018 - July 2019 in California, including San Diego, Nevada and Washington. China's Tencent production company were delivering 12.5 % of the film's budget but then pulled out over fears that it would anger the Chinese Communist Party. The release was pushed from Summer 2019 to Summer 2020 over difficult action scenes that needed a re-shoot, but then due to the China Virus pandemic, the release was pushed out another 2 years, while offers from streaming services were shot down by Cruise and co. in favor of a traditional, big theatrical release. The film opened #1 to a 126.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, the biggest opening of Cruise's career by far. It has spent another weekend at #1, and then continues to be in the top 5 with a #2 and #3 weekend currently, and a 466.1 mil. $ still-ticking domestic gross. It is the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year so far, behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and does not have a Chinese release green-lit by the country's ever-restrictive Communist Party rule. IMDb's users have rated the film in at the site's Top 250 at #43, sitting between Casablanca (1942) and Whiplash (2014). Kosinski returns with Spiderhead (2022, VoD). Cruise returns in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part 1 (2023). Top Gun: Maverick is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Top Gun: Maverick?

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) - McQuarrie and Cruise succeed with another masterly M:I thrill ride

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+ Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Fight Scene of the Year: Bathroom fight scene + Best Car Chase of the Year: Paris chase + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year

A slick poster for Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which seems to have all the right elements

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team are overseen by a very critical CIA big sister, as a captured nuclear expert has helped some bad people develop 3 plutonium bombs that need to be secured as soon as possible.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the 6th movie in the M:I franchise, written and directed as the 4th film by New Jerseyite master filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun (2000)), following the series' first masterpiece, which McQuarrie also directed, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015). Fallout arguably tops that film.
Tom Cruise (Rain Man (1988)) returns, still a movie star in a league of his own, although his days of leading major action movies may be numbered, - but only because age creeps up on even the best. Not that it hinders his powerhouse performance here. Fallout also brings back Rebecca Ferguson (The Greatest Showman (2017)), who handles drama and bad-ass fight scenes with equal adeptness; Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)), who has become an integral chummy member of the IMF team by now; Alec Baldwin (Blue Jasmine (2013)), SPOILER who has a moving death scene; Sean Harris (Trespass Against Us (2016)) as a returning lunatic villain; Michelle Monaghan (Perfume (2001)) as Hunt's detached soulmate; and Ving Rhames (Surrogates (2009)), still a big lump of lovely as Luther. Fresh star faces include Vanessa Kirby (Wasteland (2012)), who is sexy while exuding intelligence as the White Widow, Angela Bassett (This Means War (2012)) as CIA boss Erika, and finally Henry Cavill (I Capture the Castle (2003)) as the film's second, punchy heavy, Walker.
Cavill's beefcake macho radiation is a great fit for the movie, SPOILER and Cruise's taking on Superman himself is perhaps the greatest scoop for Fallout. A bathroom fight scene featuring the two of them, trying to secure a third, very violent male, may well be the year's coolest fight scene.
Fallout supplies the insane action sequences we are expecting from an M:I movie, - my favorite contemporary franchise by far, - with heart-pumping car and motor bike chase scenes in Paris a showstopper, just as the finale's helicopter battle and its aftermath is truly spectacular. The wide lens photography (by cinematographer Rob Hardy (Ex Machina (2015)) in this portion, - and an incredible parachuting scene earlier on, - is astounding, fabulously good-looking.
The plot also has the clever ideas, espionage twists and double plays that make us pay attention throughout, from the fantastic twist beginning (with CNN's Wolf Blitzer) onwards.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a larger-than-life terrific action thrill-ride with top-notch sound work and a pounding, truly glorious score by Lorne Balfe (13 Hours (2016)). It is the year's best explosive mass offering in cinemas, and I need to see it again up against the preceding Rogue Nation, - they both outrank just about any other action tentpole put out there in the 00's and 10's.

Related posts:

Christopher McQuarrie: Top 10: Best franchise movies

2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Cruise and McQuarrie's mega-movie masterpiece 
Jack Reacher (2012) - Highly entertaining, dark hero-vehicle for Tom Cruise (also with Cruise) 
Mission: Impossible franchise: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - Cruise and Bird's phenomenal action spectacle

Watch a video from the movie's Paris premiere here

Cost: 178 mil. $
Box office: 372 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[Mission: Impossible – Fallout premiered 12 July (Paris, France) and runs 147 minutes. Production was delayed due to a salary issue between Paramount and Cruise, who would only take the same or a higher salary that Universal paid him for The Mummy (2017), (which was 13 mil. $ + an unknown gross percentage. This got resolved, and shooting took place from April 2017 - March 2018 in England, including London, Paris, France, India, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Norway. The long shoot is explained by the fact that Cruise injured his leg in London, halting production for 7 weeks, costing a reported 80 mil. $, which was paid for through insurance and so didn't affect the overall costs. Cavill's reshoots for Justice League (2017) conflicted with Fallout's production, and his mustache as Walker became problematic: McQuarrie initially offered to remove it in exchange for 3 mil. $, which they claimed it would cost to add it in post, but Paramount retracted the offer, and Warner Bros. instead had to cut out the mustache from Justice League's Superman digitally. The film opened #1 to a 61.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed atop for another week and is now poised to be beaten from the spot by The Meg. It was the best M:I opening domestically yet and the 2nd biggest of Cruise's career. Overseas, it has been especially successful so far in South Korea with a giant 43.5 mil. $ gross, and the film has yet to open in 4 markets, of which the last is pivotal: Lithuania (17 Aug.), Italy (29 Aug.), Greece (30 Aug.) and China (31 Aug.). The film must aim at beating its predecessor's 682.7 mil. $ - at least. An estimated 140 mil. $ are being spent on global marketing of it. It has raced into the #157 slot of IMDb's user-generated Top 250, sitting between Trainspotting (1996) and No Country for Old Men (2007). McQuarrie's next job as director has not been announced yet. Cruise returns in the much awaited Top Gun: Maverick (2019). Mission: Impossible – Fallout is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mission: Impossible – Fallout?