Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, and Henry Czerny

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Paramount, out now

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team face the ultimate threat…

The seventh and (supposedly) penultimate adventure in the Mission: Impossible series comes in with the action bar already set high as it follows the highly entertaining Fallout. Its mission, should it choose to accept it, is to be one of the best of the summer blockbusters, and dazzle an expectant audience.

It certainly does not disappoint. Getting straight to it, this might be my favourite in the series to date, and if not, certainly right up there. The film does two things almost immediately to get the viewer hooked: first, it establishes a key theme and second, makes a powerful claim for the throne of 2023 action blockbusters. On both matters, it is relentless from the word go, yet not overwhelmingly so.

Dead Reckoning immediately provokes the audience with a strong theme of questioning the definition of truth. It does so in a timely fashion, given the constant talking point of artificial intelligence and the ability of technology to completely interfere with human perception. The film’s key threat is introduced in the opening scene, with a notable shift in tone with Ethan Hunt’s early mission brief to that which we have become accustomed to. With the assertion that the world has changed, the nature of this change brings a considerably more hostile tone to the brief. The independence of thought and commitment to the ‘greater good’ mark out the IMF as almost an exclusive force for good in a somehow even more morally grey world than ever before, and as such, Kittridge calls upon Hunt with even more of a grudging reluctance than before.

Yet at the same time as we are presented with how different things have become, we are immediately offered a contradiction: the plot device inherently sees the world’s espionage powers as contestants in a race to retrieve it, giving a very deliberate Cold War feel about it.  Certain characters of course remind us that the Cold War is a matter best left in the past even as the environment created gives the audience this feel in a neatly duplicitous setup. It merges the classic series feel seamlessly with modern concerns. This device can offer a key to world domination for its possessor, and multiple factions are quickly in play. There’s a great deal of intrigue, as we constantly assess and reassess who the IMF can trust and who they can’t, where this has changed and when, and whom each individual truly serves. At times, even within factions, they question this themselves. An important subtheme is the frequency of sleight of hand – blink and it is highly likely you will miss something.

The manipulation of truth lies close to the heart of the true villains of the piece too, even down to whether they are themselves subject to manipulation. From the opening sequence, there is an establishment of technological ghosts. The main human antagonists are perhaps best described as a technological cult, yet, without spoilers, even within this small structure, the truth is being kept from all but the highest in the hierarchy, who still appears to be at the whim of an artificial superintelligence known only as ‘The Entity’. The frequent twists and turns force the viewer’s attention far more than many an action movie.

But one thing Dead Reckoning Part 1 never lies to the audience about is its true nature as an action-packed adrenaline ride from the outset. The pacing is near-perfect, as each scene sets tension with strong attention to detail, before shifting gears into some truly spectacular set pieces, from the moment Ethan’s first message self-destructs. It controls the tempo as well as any film in the series. It features classic espionage, tense cat-and-mouse sequences, and at the other end of the scale one of the most entertaining car chases around.

Every one of the new additions to the cast shines in their own way. The villains carry suitable menace and memorable presence ,with Pom Klementieff seemingly having a riotous time nailing the larger-than-life nature of a memorable henchperson as Paris. As will be no surprise to any who have seen Hayley Atwell previously, she also shines as the enigmatic but utterly charming Grace, whose place in the story synergises with Ethan’s perfectly. The more familiar cast each enhance the film in their own way, with a blend of excellent humour, encouragement and sadness at times. There is another sub-theme relating to friends and found family which resonates, and every single member of the IMF team plays their part in that.

Verdict: Dead Reckoning Part 1 is an superb combination of the strongest aspects of each of the previous Mission: Impossible series to date, managing action, tension, humour deception and action sequences as breathtaking as you will see in the cinema this year – and that is the truth. 9/10

Russell A. Smith