YNOT at the Movies

There are so many superhero movies these days in which the characters do incredible things, but we all know they are fake and created by CGI. It's a sharp contrast when Tom Cruise, now 61, does amazing stunts on the big screen—it's all real, whether he is flying a fighter jet or jumping off a cliff. In the writer-director Christopher McQuarrie's latest action thriller "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (USA 2023 | 156 min.), the breathtaking sequences Tom Cruise delivers beat any of the superheros. You cannot walk out of the movie theater without appreciating and admiring his bravery and dedication in his filmmaking. His honorary Palme d'Or at last year's Cannes Film Festival is well deserved, and he should get an honorary Oscar if he won't win one soon.

Like almost every film in the Mission Impossible series, this seventh installment continues to surprise us with seemingly impossible actions. Knowing those dangerous acts are actually performed by these actors themselves makes the viewing experience even more exhilarating. What is also remarkable is that even though AI safety just began to occupy the headlines, this film has already impressively included it in its storyline.

As the film begins with an attack on a Russian submarine, we learn that AI has been so advanced that it creates a deadly weapon that threatens the world. Everybody is trying to get their hands on it. But to control the weapon, one must obtain a pair of interlocked keys. It almost sounds silly that such an advanced virtual computational environment for AI would need physical keys to control, but that's what the rest of the story in the movie is based on—every party is fighting to get hold of the keys.

After being summoned by the former director of the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), the IMF's agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) goes on the impossible mission to retrieve the keys. Ethan's usual pals Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) offer amazing support along the way, and they also get help from former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).

But Ethan's team is not the only one who is going after the keys. Accompanied by a deadly woman named Paris (Pom Klementieff), the mysterious villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) is Ethan's main adversary. Gabriel is determined to get the keys and if he does, he is not going to hesitate to use the weapon to cause devastating harm to humanity. To make Ethan's mission more complicated, a skilled pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell) also goes after the keys, for money. And of course, the black-market arm dealer Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), a.k.a. the White Widow, is not going to pass on the opportunity to get her hands on the deadliest weapon.

In exotic locations such as Abu Dhabi, Rome, Venice, and the Austrian Alps, all parties chase after the keys and one another in Part One of this story. Part Two will be revealed in June next year.

Despite the silly setup of looking for the keys, the director Christopher McQuarrie crafts a solid action thriller that is strikingly delivered by the singular Tom Cruise. The hair-raising thrill while watching the film makes you wonder if there is ever a limit in their pursuit of astonishing shots. The film also goes beyond our imagination when creating these scenes. Whenever you think a scene has run into a dead end and there is no way out of a bad situation for the characters, they are able to complete a stunt and live up to the film's namesake in completing impossible missions.

The truth is that people come to the big screen to see this film because of Tom Cruise's stunning feats. The story is secondary to this film, even though the director Christopher McQuarrie previously won an Oscar for writing ("The Usual Suspects"). As an action thriller, this film succeeds handsomely, but its drama element is lackluster. It could have been a leaner and shorter film if it were just focusing on the actions. A shorter title would also have been appreciated. Nevertheless, it beats a superhero movie with true actions.

"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" opens on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.