He did it, that crazy SOB did it again!

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is the seventh installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, and as the title suggests is the first of two parts to the concluding chapter of the 27-year-old series. Christopher McQuarrie returns to write and direct from the previous two installments, while Tom Cruise reprises his role as super spy Ethan Hunt and also produces. In the film, Hunt and his team (Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson) must stop a terrorist (Esai Morales) from gaining control of a rogue A.I. program; Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, and Henry Czerny also star.

I saw them completely out of order, but I really like the “Mission: Impossible” films. For my money, 2011’s “Ghost Protocol” is the best of the bunch, but the other films are all very good and even the second (last in almost everyone’s rankings) has its charm and fun. 2018’s “Fallout” has been cited by many as one of the greatest action films ever made, and while I don’t quite drink that kool-aid I do think it’s incredibly well crafted and set the bar high for “Dead Reckoning.” It was a bar that was likely never going to be cleared, but McQuarrie and Cruise try their best and still manage to deliver an exhilarating ride that puts the other blockbusters of 2023 to shame.

Tom Cruise was hailed as saving theaters last year with “Top Gun: Maverick,” and rightfully so; it became the 11th highest grossing film ever and stayed in the box office top 10 for 22 weeks (an unprecedented feat). In a world of movie stars going to streaming services and putting on spandex, Cruise has remained dedicated to providing adult popcorn entertainment and supporting theaters. He again plays Ethan Hunt as a well-meaning and dedicated man on a mission, and while it’s not anything awards-worthy you completely buy into him in the role (and not just because he actually throws himself off cliffs and speeds around Rome in a tiny Fiat for our enjoyment).

Newcomers Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff both bring great energy to the franchise and hold their own in the actions scenes with Cruise, even if neither are given much backstory or depth (we do at least get an obligatory rap sheet rundown for Atwell). As the bad guy, Esai Morales has some menacing moments but he, too, is pretty thin as a character (they try and retcon a backstory with Cruise and I found it a little lacking); maybe in the sequel they can flesh him out a bit more.

The action is all top-notch, as to be expected at this point. Unlike “The Flash” and recent Marvel joints, this isn’t shot in front of a green screen on a soundstage somewhere; Cruise and company are on the ground in Rome, Norway, and AEU, driving real cars and running around real streets. The ending set piece is a bit drawn-out but the crescendo sequence itself is incredibly entertaining. You feel the impact of crashes and sweat alongside Cruise as he races places, and along with the likes of “John Wick” and “Top Gun: Maverick” this really keeps my faith in the future of blockbuster movies alive.

The story is alright, focusing on the dangerous future of A.I. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but at the same time there is something uncomfortable to see a situation playing out that is so feasible to occur in real life (as is McQuarrie’s point, I’m sure). Maybe it’s a personal issue, but we’ve seen so many warnings in movies about what artificial intelligence can do to humans if scientists don’t stop trying to play God (“Terminator,” “The Matrix,” the upcoming “The Creator”) that this story is both white noise but also “annoying” that we can’t totally escape the stresses of a real world issue with a movie.

The film runs nearly three hours (163 minutes) and it’s pretty well-paced, but that doesn’t mean it justifies its runtime. It’s especially ponderous considering there is going to be another film tackling the same plotline, meaning McQuarrie and Cruise truly felt they needed six hours to tell this story (just like “Across the Spider-Verse” we will have to wait until next year to see if they stick the landing, though both track records indicate we are in safe hands).

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is probably the fifth or sixth best film of the “Mission: Impossible” series, but that is more a compliment to the consistency and quality of the franchise than it is a condemnation of this film. The attention to detail and dedication to creating action sequences that will hold up in 10+ years is totally admirable, and seeing Tom Cruise do his trademark sprinting on the big screen will never not be a welcome sight. I feel the same way about “Dead Reckoning” that I did about “Fallout” the first time I saw it, and now that has ascended to second on my rankings in the franchise upon rewatches; take all this as you will!

Critics Rating: 7/10