It starts like in the Cold War: A Russian nuclear submarine arms its torpedoes under the Arctic ice. And one believes one recognizes the new, old, contemporary, timeless antagonist of this film in the Russians, before it becomes clear: The Russians are only the first victim in a fight that threatens all of mankind, because the enemy is more incomprehensible than ever before. Because it’s no longer about people alone – this time Ethan Hunt and his IMF team fight against an evil overpowering artificial intelligence: “The Entity”. This creature is always at least one step ahead of them thanks to its predictive powers. Governments around the world don’t want to destroy it, they want to possess it to control the world. It is Ethan Hunt’s job to put the interests of humanity ahead of governments. This mission is hampered by having to face middlemen, secret agents and investigators on multiple levels, all looking for the key that will help them unravel the mystery.
“Mission Impossible” — a mix of suspense, action and humor
In his third film in the seven-part “Mission Impossible” series, director Christopher McQuarrie relies on a fast-paced, varied mixture of sophisticated suspense, action with breakneck stunts and the elegant humor of classic Hollywood films, with which Hitchcock’s thrillers already provided relaxation. Sometimes this lies in a quick-witted dialogue – ping-pong between man and woman, sometimes in the old and effective idea of handcuffing two people who always want to escape from each other.
The film deftly mixes the repetition of iconic Mission Impossible scenes — the masks that perfectly feign false identities; the obligatory chase through narrow streets; Hunt on the motorcycle; a sandstorm — and the appearance of familiar companions — Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), Ilsa Lund (Rebecca Ferguson). It also includes new features such as seedy pickpocket Grace (Haley Attwell is “the” big acting surprise of the film) and a breathtaking sequence with a falling train.
An all-out Tom Cruise
Above all, this is once again the Tom Cruise film. The world star, who has so far remained loyal to the big screen, rejected all streaming temptations, and was even proclaimed the “saviour of the cinema” in 2022 with his “Top Gun II” success, is also proving at the age of 61 that he can go into the Is worth cinema and can easily stand up to the “Marvel” superheroes. Just like his character, Cruise also competes against a computer program: he embodies the real analogue cinema against the digital one that is created on the screen. As producer, lead actor, and boss in the ring, Cruise is the actual writer-filmmaker on Mission: Impossible. He may seem a little tense at times, like a top executive whose secretary has dropped out, but this time Cruise again performed many of the daring stunts himself. This also applies to the sequence in which you see a parachute and motorcycle jump from a high cliff, which has already caused a sensation on the internet.
The story adequately reflects this fight against transience, because Ethan Hunt and his team also have to fight against their own past.
The menace, heroism and cinema
Two leitmotifs run through the story from the beginning: the “choice” and the freedom to choose that everyone has and that separates humans from all computer intelligence. And the absence of any “absolute goodness,” even patriotism. It’s just about picking one side, it says several times in this film. The “Mission Impossible” is also the end of all illusions.
Otherwise there is no end. The fact that “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” is divided into two parts may have commercial reasons, but it is in the logic of the franchise. It celebrates the end of the end and shows that everything goes on: the threat, the heroism, the story and the cinema.
2023-07-12 10:11:06
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