MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (10/10)
by Tony Medley
163 minutes.
PG-13
Just looking at the runtime, this would be a good choice of a film to avoid. But that would be wrong. This is 163 minutes of a good film with a good script. But most of all it is filled with amazing, death-defying stunts. And they were all done by Tom Cruise, as usual.
Cruise is known for doing his own stunts and they are generally unbelievable. But he tops himself in this one. When I saw the film at Paramount, I was disbelieving. But then I watched the short films documenting the stunts and that made me a believer, and an admirer of Cruise who is clearly not just a pretty face. I’m not going to describe the stunts because that might act as spoilers, but when you see the film, just realize that really is Tom Cruise doing all these things and there is no green screen or anything else that generally creates Hollywood Magic.
I don’t know where Cruise gets all his energy but what’s really amazing is that he didn’t just do these stunts once, he did them over and over again until they got it right.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a script by him and Erik Jendresen, the story is the same MI theme developed by Bruce Geller for his television series, a dangerous mission to save the world. But this is not just the same movie done many times with different McGuffins, even though it is filled with chases that I usually abhor. It is unique enough to stand on its own. As the title indicates, though, there is more to come. As an added plus are terrific scenes of Rome and countrysides. The cinematography (Fraser Taggert) and Italian and Norwegian locations are gorgeous.
I’m not going to waste your time by writing thousands of words about it. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this.
Tony Medley is a columnist, and MPAA-accredited film critic His reviews are published in The Larchmont Chronicle, Telicom Magazine, The Tolucan Times, CWEB.com, robinhoodnews.com, on Rottentomatoes.com, the Movie Review Query Engine, and at www.tonymedley.com. Tony Medley holds the rank of Silver life Master, is an American Contract Bridge League Club Director, and has won regional and sectional titles. An attorney, he received his B.S. from UCLA, where he was sports editor of UCLA’s Daily Bruin, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
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