You might have heard about the latest installment of the Mission Impossible franchise while it was being made. Tom Cruise’s production company continued shooting the film during the pandemic, a decision which made headlines when audio was leaked of the American actor berating his crew for not adhering to Covid protocol. It was an expletive-laden audio.

Cruise adapted the original television series, created in the late 1960s by New York Jewish screenwriter Bruce Geller, in the mid-90s since when it has continued to only grow in popularity.

Dead Reckoning Part One (part two will be released next summer) is expected to repeat the success of last year’s action adventure Top Gun: Maverick, a success so great it prompted Steven Speielberg to praise Cruise for having saved the entire cinema industry.

Meanwhile, this action film follows Ethan Hunt, played by Cruise, and his Impossible Mission Force team as they embark on their assignment of stopping a new weapon that could extinguish humanity from falling into the wrong hands.  When he encounters mysterious international criminal Grace, played by Hayley Atwell, Ethan has met his match. She outwits him at every turn and steals the show at every turn, too. She is an utter delight to watch.

From the first notes of Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme, you feel that everything  in this film will unfold as it should. And it does. Mixing thrilling action set pieces with daredevil stunts, writer and director Christopher McQuarrie delivers an excellent high-octane action thriller. Cruise is once again magnificent as Ethan Hunt. He performs most of his stunts and does so with impressive precision, whilst managing to never take himself too seriously. Small wonder some are calling him “the last ever film star”.

There is no doubt in my mind that this film will reiterate the importance of seeing films in actual cinemas, and not on streaming platforms. With the absence of the usual Marvel titles in this summer’s scheduling, I would be surprised to see any other film beat Dead Reckoning Part One at the box office. See it on the biggest screen you can find.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Part One
Cert: 12A | ★★★★★