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Plot Summary: Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Writers: Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie

Runtime: 2 hours 43 mins

• Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
• Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust
• Hayley Atwell as Grace
• Pom Klementieff as Paris
• Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow
• Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs
• Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn
• Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell

Review by: Samuel

After watching MI 6: Fallout, I knew there was no way the sequel could top it. To this day it remains one the best action movies ever made and in terms of spectacle is only surpassed by another Tom Cruise film- Top Gun Maverick. So now with the release of the 7^th Mission Impossible film, I was just expecting to be entertained but not blown away like I was with the last installment. The thing that immediately comes to mind with this film is that it felt a lot like Fast and the Furious film….which is not a good thing.

What I Liked

Tom Cruise-love him or hate him, the man is a bona fide action star. He gives it his all in every role and this is no exception. His Ethan Hunt is charming, funny, determined, and oh-so cool. Cruise loves to do his own stunts and there’s just something about knowing that most of the time it is actually him jumping/gliding/driving that makes his movies even more fun. And of course, there is a scene showcasing his PERFECT running form.

Something else that stood out in this film is the sense of danger it presents. In the other films you never felt like the characters were invincible (like in F&F), but you never really had the sense that Ethan or his buddies wouldn’t make it to the end of film. This time it is different. It does help that in the back of your mind you know these actors are closer to the end of their action careers than the beginning, but the writing in the film is really what does it. There are scenes in the beginning that let you know this is more serious than prior threats as it’s personal against the IMF team themselves rather than just the world at large. Then later in the second act, the film really lets you know that there are serious consequences this time and that not everybody is safe. It’s this sense of danger that drives me to want to see part 2 more than anything- I really want to know who is going to walk away from this mission alive.

What I Didn’t Like 

There’s a lot I did not care for here. First, while I didn’t expect the action to meet the highs of part six, I did expect them to try more than they did. Most of the “action” boils down to choregraphed fights- none of which come close to the bathroom scene in part six. And there’s no big set piece quite like the helicopter scene in the prior movie either. I’m going to focus on the scenes that stood out because they were longer than most- we get an extended scene in an airport, and extended chase scene through Rome, and an extended scene on the train. The airport was fine, the train was okay, but my major problem was the chase scene. Not only is it too long, but this is where I felt the film was most like Fast & Furious. It didn’t help that they are in the same city we saw the Fast gang in just last month, but the scene itself is just as ridiculous. There just so much I didn’t buy from a franchise that usually sells to me. In the middle of this sequence, someone forgets how to drive in a straight line all for laughs. The car is literally spinning in a doughnut while the bad guy just sits there watching in bewilderment. In that same chase, Ethan decides to switch cars- in the middle of being chased- and gets in a tiny smart car where he mistakes the windshield wiper for the ignition, again for laughs. Those are just a few examples that had me worried because this franchise has mainly used its action sequences to be cool and showcase awesome stunts. Laughs feel more earned in the natural flows of things- these “funny” moments inserted into the action was almost slapstick- just like Tej and Roman in F&F ( if it’s not clear, I will say it plainly that I hate the Fast and Furious).

The other thing I didn’t like in this film was the story itself. This might have been too big for its britches. There are SO MANY characters in this film. We have about 6 different bad guys: a man named Gabriel from Ethan’s past before he joined the IMF; CIA director Kittridge; a kill squad sent by Kittridge led by a man with some grudge against Ethan; Vanessa Kirby’s White Queen from the last film; newcomer Grace- a masterful pickpocket; Pom Klementieff’s mercenary character who was the pursuer during the chase scene; and they are under the eye of the true villain- a rouge Ai that has become sentient. You don’t understand a lot of the villain’s motivations and because there are so many of them there isn’t enough time for the film to really dive into them- which means you ultimately don’t care. That makes it hard to understand why these people are so hell bent on stopping/killing Ethan.

My biggest problem though, is the AI; the Skynet to Ethan’s John Connor. I just felt it was dumb for the movie. It’s an all-knowing, omni present force….yet it is concerned with the dealings of one American man. And by concerned, I do not mean it only wants to stop Ethan for self-preservation. This god-like entity is interested in toying with Ethan emotionally- it wants to hurt him specifically going as far as to tricking his friends into revealing things about themselves. I see this as being Superman and devoting your time to bullying a sixth grader. It just felt stupid to me, and I think it’s a badly written enemy for Ethan.