How do you fight an enemy that knows your every move, long before you’ve even thought of it?
Release date: 14 July 2023 (Nigeria)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Budget: 291 million USD
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Based on: Mission: Impossible; by Bruce Geller
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Yennis Cheung, Nicholas Hoult, Angela Bassett, Rob Delaney
Summary
The invincible, indestructible, invulnerable Ethan Hunt returns to our screens, with his IMF team, to embark on what has to be their most dangerous adventure yet. This time they’re faced with a new foe: a terrifying weapon that utilises artificial intelligence to uncover and counter their every move before it’s ever even conceived.
The 7th instalment of the franchise pushes the boundaries of filmmaking, cinematography and story telling, and begs the question, “who needs a stunt double, when you’ve got Tom Cruise?”
Story Line
This has to be one of the best Mission: Impossible story lines ever. It’s captivating from start to finish, with very few scenes wasted. It’s an enthralling tale of man vs. machine, but more ChatGBT and less Terminator. It absolutely sucks you in and keeps you fascinated from start to inconclusive finish. As usual, the fate of the world depends on Ethan Hunt’s ability to complete his mission, which as we already know, is impossible to achieve. This time, the villain is Artificial Intelligence, a contemporary power that knows your every move long before you make it. Imagine being on the phone with your friend/co-worker and it’s not actually him talking, it’s The Entity. That’s just straight up scary stuff, particularly for a spy, when you can’t even trust the voice in your own head.
Ironically, this technology is readily available today. Which makes this movie top contender for horror flick of the year, word to Black Mirror.
Costume and Setting
I think what is most brilliant and most notable is the way the face masks were done. And no, this is not a reference to big-pharma and covid. I mean the way they made it look like actors were wearing masks, while actually using the original actors they were meant to be impersonating. It’s genius stuff. The cinematography also played a huge hand with the use of rotating cameras whenever masks were being placed on or taken off the spies. It was pretty incredible work that made the masks look highly believable while actually switching actors/actresses.
It also lends credence to the story, because everyone seemed to suspect everyone else. Knowing that masks are in common use in spy-craft made people randomly reach out to grab people’s faces and pull on people’s chins. I thought that was hilariously used, especially when they were wrong.
I particularly loved the setting of the after party fights in Venice. I have to admit, some of the most visually stunning scenes in this movie were shot in Norway, particularly the mountain scenes where Ethan Hunt literally goes sky diving with a mountain bike. It’s incredibly fun to watch and the staircase scene with the Volkswagen in Milan had to be one of my favourite things about the movie.
Cinematography
I’m sorry, but the scene with the yellow VW Beetle just has to be re-mentioned. Product placement was pristine in this flick, and the choice of the classic Beetle as a spy-car is something out of a comic book strip, word to Transformers. That whole scene was ridiculous, because it was performed with him handcuffed. And with his left hand attached to her right, making it doubly difficult for any convenient manoeuvring to take place. At one point the car tumbles and they inadvertently switch seats. The idea of it is just as insane as its on-screen execution and is bound to leave viewers completely captivated. The art with which they drove and drifted that car, and the amount of camera work that went into capturing the stunts and views through the streets of Italy, is comparable to Picasso with a paintbrush.
The close-up fight scenes after the party, and the train scene in the third act with the coaches crumbling sequentially were also quite visually stunning. Hand-to-hand combat executed in the tightest of spaces, capturing body movements of individuals on top of trains in super tight train tunnels, switching from first to third person views, and from go-pro to aerial shots. It is quite incredible to watch, to be honest, and the movie manages to bring fresh perspectives on fight sequencing to an extremely saturated genre.
Acting
Dead Reckoning: Part 1 is Cruise at his finest, performing highly unusual stunts and defying the laws of age and gravity. To be honest, the myth of Ethan Hunt is becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the legend of Tom Cruise. He has sort of embodied the character, don’t you think? The man seems to have a death-wish while simultaneously living life to the fullest right before our very eyes. In this 163-minute long blockbuster, he’s seen riding motorcycles off cliffs, paragliding through mountains, shifting gears in classic cars while driving handcuffed, and most dangerously, chasing women halfway across the world, literally. Is it just me, or is he ALWAYS running in his movies? I watched him run for at least 3 minutes, sometimes darting for like 30 seconds at a stretch. Bro. Just straight up hightailing it. My guy just dey pick race dey go. He has successfully taken ownership of, and fully redefined, the phrase “Adrenaline junkie”.
Hayley Atwell’s enactment of Grace is also incredible eye-candy. She plays the sneaky pick-pocket with a retinue of crimes and identities quite beautifully, and manages to hold her own right next to the legend of Tom Cruise, masterfully wielding her charm and prowess and performing my favourite stunt of the movie: doing doughnuts in a Volkswagen beetle.
Rating
3D
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Daring. Delightful. Dastardly.
A beautiful movie that pushed the boundaries of its own franchise and lends further credence to the myth of Ethan Hunt. A cinema worthy experience that will take your breath away and force you to stay at the edge of your seat throughout. A stunning movie.
Just like the other 6 before it.
I know we can’t get enough of these series, and the franchise seems to be serving to Hollywood what the James Bond series serves to British television, but asides the stunts, we’ve seen it all before. I still think they are simply money-making franchises, and these kinds of movies will just keep being churned out as long as they continue to fill up cinema seats.
Enjoyable, all the same.
