"We live and die in the shadows, for those we hold close, and for those we never meet."

Mission Impossible is the rare case of a series that reached new heights the longer it went on. The first film was a stylish pulpy spy thriller directed very well by Brian De Palma, the second jumped the shark and was a cheesy mess with John Woo helming the project, the third was J.J. Abrams debut feature where excessive lens flair was brought to the table and it was competently made and entertaining. Ghost Protocol the series went up a level, Rogue Nation continued its upward trajectory before finally Fallout became the definitive Mission Impossible experience leading us to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. Where does it rank in the canon? Highly. I think it is second best film they've produced and for a series that has gone on for 27 years it is amazing.

I remember growing up having mixed feelings on Tom Cruise. I liked some of his films, others I thought were bland mediocre blockbusters but I don't think I appreciated him enough because the landscape of film all those years ago was better. It was more varied, well rounded, one studio didn't have a monopoly over the rest and there were different types of films that'd garner an audience and if a film didn't it may still gain traction from home media sales. It's only in retrospect where you see what a relic he is that you truly appreciate his body of work and him as an actor. He is incredibly committed to the art form, he wants to make cinema a spectacle and he's passionate about preserving the theatrical experience. He performs his own stunts wherever possible, trying the most death defying feats and they are always immensely entertaining and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is him at his most unhinged.

The film's opening is tense and sets the scene well. The antagonist of the film is a new character to the series Gabriel who has a past with Ethan which I'm sure will be expanded on and explored more in Part Two but he is just a vessel for the true threat; artificial intelligence known as 'The Entity'. As a villain he's serviceable, but he doesn't do anything particularly memorable which is a slight weakness for the film. A.I. as the threat is relevant to modern times and tapping into the growing fear and anxiety surrounding the technology and its scary possibilities and various world powers are racing against time to harness the Entity by using a cruciform key. It is the team's job to retrieve the key that can unlock its horrifying possibilities and stop it from landing in the wrong hands.

The airport sequence is a lot of fun as lots of key players in the hunt for the key are in play and we have Ethan having to evade them, using cool high tech to do so while the team have to disable (what they think is) a nuclear bomb from going off answering a series of riddles and questions and this is where we meet Grace played by Hayley Atwell who's such a great addition to the franchise as a morally indifferent thief who through the course of the narrative rethinks her choices and is forced to choose a side. The rest of the cast and characters continue to be the enjoyable ensemble and foil for Ethan Hunt and I am so glad that while they have chemistry and he clearly cares for her, I am glad that they haven't gone down an explicit romance route between Ethan and Ilsa Faust who gets a poignant send off in her last Mission Impossible film. The best part about the film is the absolutely insane motorbike jump scene leading into the train sequence; the commitment to practical effects over computer generated imagery is greatly appreciated as they created one of the very best action sequences of not only the year but the decade. The entire last act is absolutely exhilarating and I am really looking forward to Dead Reckoning Part Two next year.