Plot: What’s it about?
While the series overall has never been my favorite, it’s the fourth film, Ghost Protocol that really upped the ante on delivering literally edge-of-your-seat thrills that kept me hungry for me. I’m thinking of Tom Cruise literally crawling up the side of a towering building with nothing more than magnetic gloves to keep him adhered to it. And who can forget the previous entry, Fallout, in which he’s climbing up a cliff trying to hurry and reach a detonator before a bomb goes off. Thrilling stuff indeed. Now that I have seen all the films, I still think the fifth entry, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation remains my favorite, there is no denying that these films fully deliver on the promise of delivering the goods. It helps that Tom Cruise does his own stunts. That only makes the impossible missions seem at least somewhat probable.
Rather than starting with a crazy stunt to bring us back into this world, reckoning instead, features an early scene where we see a Russian submarine called Sevastopol testing the stealth capabilities. We see that the system has been hijacked and the torpedoes end up killing everyone on board the sub. It isn’t a long sequence, but likely won’t be remembered as one of the better opening sequences of these films. Getting that out of the way, we catch up with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his crew. We learn that Ethan’s next mission (Should he choose to accept it) is to travel to the desert to retrieve half of a key (one you’ll hear a lot about throughout the film) from Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). She has a bounty on her, and Ethan encourages her to stay below the radar. Meanwhile, there’s a meeting with Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) who some may remember from the very first film. We hear a lot about The Entity which is a form of AI that several governmental agencies will pay top dollar for. To obtain this would be to have two genuine copies of a key that everyone seems to want. We meet Gabriel (Esai Morales) who works with the Entity and swears only he knows where the keys can lead and what it does. There are returning faces here with Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames as Benji and Luther, respectively. They’re given a lot to do here even if it’s sometimes simply detailing the plot and connecting the dots. Hayley Atwell plays Grace, who is simply a pickpocket at first, but then gets involved in the scheme, and not only are her motives not entirely clear, but she also has a past that makes her more than just a random thief. There are two other female characters here that make a strong impression. We have Alanna (Vanessa Kirby) who is dubbed “the white widow” and the mostly silent character, Paris (Pom Klementieff) who is a French assassin going after Hunt and his crew. She is one of the more interesting characters here and has shown she’s more than willing to go toe-to-toe with hunt, this includes her wielding a sword in a narrow alleyway. In what is one of many effective sequences in the film. There isn’t a character here that isn’t given their chance to shine at least at some point in the film. Things lead to a climax on a speeding train that, of course, can’t be stopped. It is quite a thrilling sequence that has some similarities to Skyfall in which characters fight on top of the train and must know when to duck at just the right time as a tunnel approaches.
For a film that is over two and a half hours, Dead Reckoning mostly zips by. I didn’t find the film quite as enjoyable as the previous few entries, but it more than gives the audience their money’s worth. While certain aspects seem vague, the simplicity of obtaining the key is a good driving force for us to know the basic goal here. The villains are worthy adversaries and there is a right amount of humor during some of the chase sequences, including one where the Cruise and Atwell characters are cuffed together, and must seriously compromise on just how to escape. The film isn’t perfect as some of the line readings have such a self-serious nature to them that it feels almost like a read through. A lot of this comes from the Ving Rhames character. It is as if he is directly telling the audience what is happening and spelling things out just a bit too clearly. Still, that is nitpicking in what is otherwise a fast-paced and engaging action flick. As it stands, this entry more than wets the appetite. It may even improve on a second viewing where some of the plot points flow more smoothly after we know where things are headed.
Video: How’t it look?
As we might expect from a Mission: Impossible (or James Bond, if that’s your thing) movie, this delivers all the goods in pure 4K glory. Cruise and his minions galavant all around the globe, with scenes filmed in some pretty iconic places. Because, you know, you can just steal a police motorcycle right outside the Colosseum. Naturally. That said, the 2.39:1 HEVC 4K image leaves very little to the imagination with excellent detail, color rendition, black levels and so forth. In a word, it’s amazing. Dolby Vision helps bring the image a bit higher highs and lower lows and after being exposed to several hundred 4K movies (both new and catalog titles), this is certainly indicative of a new-to-the-format title. Sit back, relax and let Cruise and company take you on the ride of your life. The bigger TV you have – the better.
Audio: How’s it sound?
If you can ever get Lalo Schifrin’s score out of your head (and with the film running just over 160 minutes, you’ll have plenty of time to do so), then you’ll rest easy knowing that the Dolby Atmos soundtrack lives up to the hype. And, as we might expect, this checks all the boxes with atmospheric sound from the surrounds, clear and crisp vocals, the LFE that don’t know when to quit and everything in between. What exactly is the sound made when you ride a motorcycle off a mountain? Until any of us ever attempts it – we’ll have to assume that it sounds like it does in this film. Folks, this is a Mission: Impossible movie – it’s going to sound good. This does.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This three disc set has a fair share of extras, the most notable of which is the commentary track with director Christopher McQuarrie.
Disc One (4K)
- Audio Commentary — Director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton take viewers through each compelling scene with in-depth commentary. Given the film’s length, there are some dead spots (sorry, couldn’t resist) but it’s chock full of things that fans love. It’s worth a listen if you feel the need to devote yet another two and a half hours to the film. Most will.
- Isolated Score — I personally have no idea why someone would want to a watch a film of this length only listening to the isolated score, but let’s admit it – you’re out there. And this is for you. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Disc Two (Blu-ray)
- Abu Dhabi — Explore the exotic filming locations in the desert and at the international airport and discover how each thrilling sequence was shot.
- Rome — Take a behind-the-scenes look at the thrilling car chase through Italy’s historic capital, as Tom Cruise’s driving skills are pushed to the limit while handcuffed to Hayley Atwell!
- Venice — See the breathtaking city of Venice as it’s never been shown on film. Plus, witness the cast’s dedication and commitment to their training as they prepare to get “Mission Ready.”
- Freefall — An extended behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest stunts in cinema history. Watch never-before-seen footage of the rigorous training as Tom launches a motorcycle off a cliff.
- Speed Flying — Join Tom and the crew as they explain the various training techniques involved in pulling off the dangerous speed flying stunts in the film.
- Train — See how the climactic train sequence was captured on film. From building an actual train from scratch to crashing it using practical effects, you don’t want to miss this!
- Deleted Shots Montage — Director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton share some of the breathtaking, never-before-seen footage that didn’t make the final film.
- Editorial Featurette: The Sevastopol — Director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton take viewers through the intense opening scene.
The Bottom Line
The film made nearly $600 million dollars worldwide, so it’s hard to call this a “disappointment.” But…I think some do. As the last four decades have shown us, Cruise rarely does little wrong when it comes to his projects and this is certainly no exception. I still say that we’ll read about Cruise dying on the set of Mission: Impossible (insert number here). Yes, he’s that committed to his roles. From a technical perspective, this one delivers all the goods. Great technical specs as well as enough extras to warrant a purchase.
