Revisiting ‘Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning’
Was a second look better than the first time that left me disappointed?
It can be said 100 more times, and it wouldn’t be enough. Some movies take time to marinate in the brain, or they require second viewings to get a full read. Recently, I took a second ride on Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible train, Dead Reckoning, a movie with a huge train sequence. Last year’s screening was met with high expectations, but left me with a feeling of disappointment. I wanted, and expected, more from a pair of action thriller maestros.
Cruise and the stunt work/action pushed it across the goal line of watchability, but this particular franchise never settled for that bar before with their product, so the second viewing this month stripped away the expectations and hype surrounding the first viewing. This time, it was just another movie surfing around on Paramount Plus. It took two segmented nights with the movie (it’s a long damn movie and you feel it), but the finish line was reached and I wasn’t disappointed this time.
What were my thoughts the second time around?
I was quite satisfied with the construction of the plot and the pace of the film, which never really lets up for its epic two hour and 43 minute runtime. From an artificial intelligence driven plot to some of the best car chases in a tiny car in recent memory to a thrilling character played by Pom Klementieff, the movie kicks the tires and rarely lets up. We follow Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his team (the ever reliable duo of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames with the lovely Rebecca Ferguson) all over the globe from one problem to the next with bullets and knife fights stacking up with the minutes.
Esai Morales is the one chasing and/or baiting the IMF team, and his bad guy settled in better during the revisit. The first time, the brashness and elusive nature just annoyed me. This time, Morales’ A.I.-armed villain had some weight and sophistication to his knife skills. Following a broken-bad Superman wasn’t easy.
Shia Whigham and Greg Tarzan Davis give more weight to a pair of badges than many lesser films would; Whigham’s agent has a do or die pursuit of Hunt brand of energy that helps the subplot connect with the rest of the movie. The bench is deep, and they all buy in.
The truth is the original title, Dead Reckoning: Part One, was overlong and presented the first of two films as only half of the pie. You can plant a seed of intrigue, but sometimes moviegoers don’t bite down. The box office returns were less than stellar, and I think the setup and original construction of the film threw people off, including me.
By the end of a seemingly 30-minute train climax, you’re left with an open-ended finish, as Hayley Atwell’s criminal becomes an official member of Ethan’s team. There was also the entire marketing leg about the motorcycle swan dive Hunt’s character takes two-thirds into the movie. They blew a lot of the hype material out too wide before release.
The second time made it feel like a more cohesively told solo film, even if the sequel is already coming together. How many more after the next one? Nobody knows. But another look, or a revisiting, made me a bigger fan of Dead Reckoning. Let’s make the next one a crisp two hours and twenty minutes. Maybe cut one of those Tom Cruise endlessly running scenes.
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