IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched in the cinema (99th visit in 2023)
Basically, "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1" makes it really easy. You like the series and especially the parts by director and writer Christopher McQuarrie the best? Then there is really no reason not to watch this part in the cinema. On a big screen, with a blaring sound system, you can once again join in the excitement as Tom Cruise once again runs to escape the fact that he is now a proud 61 years old. No other franchise is so tied to its star. Even the "Fast and the Furious" series has flirted with a change at the wheel more than once. But the impossible mission without Cruise? Without Ethan Hunt? Unimaginable. Probably no other actor embodies the status of a true screen star as consistently as he does. No one else has built, earned, such a reputation over the years. His name stands for good, entertaining, engaging and stunning Hollywood cinema. Where Tom Cruise is on it, popular cinema is in it, and of course this blockbuster does absolutely nothing to change that.
Basically, the review could end here. The seventh part of the series is satisfying. More than that. It fulfills the expectations sovereignly, makes no real experiments and manages something that neither "Fast & Furious 10" nor the visual masterpiece "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" managed this summer: Although the story isn't told at the end of the film, "Dead Reckoning Part 1" still feels complete. Yes, the "to be continued" is clearly felt, but McQuarrie manages to deliver a final chord at the end of his fifth directorial effort that is more than just a carrot wagging in front of you. It's apparent that when the credits roll, a major stage of the adventure has been mastered. Where Vin Diesel's family or Miles Morales last left you hanging somewhere in a vacuum, this conclusion feels more thoughtful and satisfying. Not all questions have been answered and not all conflicts have been resolved, but still, there is a sense that this part is round and complete and the way is now clear for the second part, which will probably not be released next year as planned due to the writers' and actors' strike that is completely paralyzing Hollywood.
So things continue to run smoothly in "Mission: Impossible". However, something that was already noticeable in "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is noticeable in the latest mission: the plot needs more time to get going. It took quite a long time for the story to really get going, and the current mission of Ethan Hunt takes even longer. The length of over 160 minutes doesn't make the film lengthy, but real short-wave action is also rather rare. As good as the action is, the ways to get there are often a bit sluggish. The script by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen is a bit too interested in adding emotional depth and weight to the plot, which comes across as a bit too contrived, but basically works solidly. More counterproductive is that too much relies on talky exposition. The name of the current MacGuffin (entity) is sometimes mentioned so often that the film would lend itself to drinking games in your home cinema.
So yes, there are a few flaws (I haven't even mentioned the villain Gabriel, played by Esai Morales, who, as usual from the series, doesn't leave too lasting an impression). But in the end, it delivers exactly what you expected and wanted. The action is great, memorable, feels big, real and tangible, and is sensationally executed in its entirety. The finale on the train is simply phenomenal, and even reminds me a bit of a condensed melange of "Cliffhanger" and Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" during a brief but intense period. The now 23-year-old "Mission: Impossible 2" remains the clear taillight of a series that perhaps did not always get better, but managed to achieve and maintain a fabulous qualitative genre standard for several years now. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2" can come. The expectations will be enormous. Quite in contrast to the concern that the finale could disappoint.