Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Tom Cruise, you crazy son of a b*tch! You did it again! "Mission:  Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One" follows Ethan Hunt and his IMF team who must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Let's start with what makes this film so special, shall we? For starters, the story this time around is much more epic and bigger in every way possible than the previous entries. It's longer, bigger and much more interesting. One thing that I loved here was the "villain" which is an AI. Since the Mission: Impossible franchise relies mostly on tech, it was very interesting to see them do mistakes and fail at every turn which made the stakes higher. It was integrated into the plot smartly. Believe it or not, I've now watched this movie 3 times already and I still absolutely love it. Of course, a Mission: Impossible film isn't complete without having some of the biggest action set pieces in cinema. Well, they did not disappoint. Seeing Tom Cruise drive a Fiat with one hand in the streets of Rome was one of the coolest things I've seen in quite a while but the action set piece that blew me away was the train sequence. I still can't believe how they shot the last act. It's so intricately detailed that I couldn't help but be thrilled by what was happening on screen. Crazy would be an understatement! I won't spoil anything here but Tom Cruise keeps surprising me with how he overcomes the limits of cinema. 

Clocking at 163 minutes, the film definitely feels lengthy but this shouldn't be something that keeps the audience away from watching the film. It never feels long or even boring which was a surprise, to say the least. Of course, the strong cast helped this film feel quick and fast. Tom Cruise was phenomenal as always! Hayley Atwell was fantastic and the chemistry between them was amazing! Esai Morales was excellent as the villain but the true star of the show was Pom Klementieff (at least for me). She flexed her acting capabilities and showed that she was more than capable of taking roles other than Mantis. She simply blew me away! I especially cannot wait to see her role in Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part Two! Praise should also go to Vanessa Kirby and  Cary Elwes for giving some solid performances. Finally, I have to mention one minor thing that annoyed me. I'm not a huge fan of CGI and VFX. Considering that most of the film looked great, I couldn't help but notice the unnecessary use of VFX in its last act. The Train sequence would have been even more cool with more practical effects.  

Now, your mission should you choose to accept it is to stop reading my review and go book yourself a ticket at your local theater to experience one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer. Good Luck dear reader.