 I recall thinking of two particular things upon the film's release. The first was being genuinely surprised that this series still had any gas after a good five years. The second was thinking that Tom Cruise was in his 60s at this point and wondering how much more he had left in him. I have mixed feelings for Mr. Cruise for the same reasons many do, but he does have my utmost respect for his desire to deliver edge-of-your-seat action by putting his life on the line with his incredible stunt work.
No matter how you feel about Tom Cruise, that is one thing that he has carried through this series from the beginning - his willingness to do his own stunt work, which usually ends up in some incredible action sequence that the audience can watch in awe, thinking "he did this!," granted with a lot of stuff to help that we don't see, but just because he hangs from a plane taking off in 'Rogue Nation' while being strapped in for safety in reality, he still did it, and we all thought something along the lines of "this guys out of his damn mind!" It turns out, however, that Cruise just doesn't let his age stop him, and he seems to embody the notion that "you're only as old as you feel." Indeed, 'Dead Reckoning' has its fair share of solid stunt work, for which this series has become well known, and the series certainly hasn't applied the brakes in any way. It's pretty impressive that this series has endured for almost twenty years. However, it demonstrates that the filmmakers know what they're doing and what audiences expect in a good action movie. With that, let's get to the story. The film's namesake comes from a new, advanced AI dubbed "The Entity," whose navigation system uses "dead reckoning." A next-gen Russian sub called The Sevastopol employs this technology. The AI manages to trick them into firing a torpedo, which the AI then turns back on the sub, sinking it and killing all on board. We learn through a meeting of U.S. Intelligence Community leaders, including CIA Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) and the Director of National Intelligence Denlinger (Cary Elwes), that the AI has gone rogue and achieved sentience. As a result, primary defence, intelligence and financial networks worldwide have begun to be infiltrated. World powers soon seek to obtain both halves of a "cruciform key" to control The Entity and protect their national security. This eventually leads IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) to accept his mission for this movie: intercept both halves of the "cruciform key" and neutralize its threats to potentially control global systems. In case you're wondering, all of our favourites return for more, including Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and Isla Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Ethan also has to deal with an expert thief named Grace (Hayley Atwell), who provides the film with a sort of true neutral character - almost a new Ilsa, in that she keeps you guessing as to just how much you want to trust her. Otherwise, as far as 'Mission: Impossible' goes, whatever you might expect from it, you'll probably end up getting, ranging from must-haves like that catchy theme music to cliches we have learned to love like Tom Cruise running at full speed. The only thing that stands out is the idea that things take a slight turn toward sci-fi in this chapter, particularly concerning the concept of AI becoming self-aware. I've gone on and on about the respect I've for Cruise's stunt work, which is still just as impressive as ever. But as far as story, characters, and several other essential things go, it's a chapter I think the general populous admires a bit more than I do. Despite being able to give the film credit for being yet another solid addition to the series, it still makes me wonder how many more the series has in store - and that's knowing full well 'Final Reckoning' is supposed to be the last one. If there's one thing I've learned from Hollywood over my years of being a bit of a movie geek, it's "never assume it's over." 4/5
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