Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Tom Cruise’s newest enemy is software, which means a lot of Dead Reckoning is serious people in dark rooms saying ’the Entity’ like it lives under their bed. The AI plot is timely and murky, and the human bad guy, Gabriel, is mostly a cool coat with a knife. It’s also literally Part One, so all 163 minutes end on a to-be-continued. And yet the set pieces are as good as this series gets. A car chase through Rome has Cruise and Hayley Atwell handcuffed together in a tiny yellow car, bickering the whole way. The motorcycle jump off a cliff is as unhinged as you’ve heard. The finale on a runaway train turns into a slow-motion climbing nightmare through cars dangling off a broken bridge. Atwell is a great addition, a thief who keeps winning the argument. It made $571.1 million worldwide on a reported $291M. An 8.3 because the stunts are elite and the story is still loading. $60.87 says the next time your phone autocorrects something weird, you whisper ’the Entity’ and put it face down.

What works: The Rome car chase, the cliff jump and the hanging train finale rank with the franchise’s biggest highlights, and Hayley Atwell’s Grace is a sharp new partner for Ethan.

What doesn’t: The AI villain is vague, Gabriel is thin, and splitting the story in half leaves this one ending on a pause instead of a payoff.

Who it’s for: Action fans who want real stunts on a big screen and don’t mind finishing the story in another movie.