REVIEW | Tom Cruise is still killing it at 60 in new 'Mission: Impossible' flick

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is one of those blockbuster films that must be seen on the biggest screen possible and in IMAX, it’s Hollywood blockbuster film-making at its finest starring the last action hero Tom Cruise.

This film follows Ethan Hunt and his team as they track down a new deadly foe, a foe unlike they’ve ever faced before, and the stakes could not be higher. As Hollywood is dipping its toes into the Artificial Intelligence (AI) pond in creation and finding resistance from the human workforce, this film serves as a warning of what could happen when a superpower places its strengths on AI.

It is a film that takes the rare breed of the “movie star” and combines that with thrilling action cinema, blockbuster film-making at its finest, flaws and all.

You’ll barely feel its lengthy 163 minutes runtime because it is so action-packed; it just keeps going, it never slows down and rarely does Ethan Hunt when the world is in danger. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One spends its time setting up what’s surely going to be a spectacular sequel. It fills its runtime with risky stunts and action sequences with high-speed chases led by the iconic Cruise, who is in his 60s and still proving he’s the ultimate movie star.

As great a movie as Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is, it spends a lot of time setting up a sequel and not enough time on the emotional aspects of the film. Though we know these characters and some of them we’ve been with for six and now seven films, they still need to be human. There are certain moments in the film where I felt the dialogue is robotic and void of emotion. These moments bring down the quality of the film; we love the stunts and action, but we’d also love some emotional availability.

The other issue I had with the film is I didn’t find the first act good. I found the execution a bit sloppy and it wasn’t seamless enough, wasn’t engaging enough. It was still trying to find its feet, but does find its stride eventually and after that we’re taken for a great ride. But that doesn’t take away from the clunkiness of the first act.

Overall, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is probably the third- or second-best Mission: Impossible film, depending on who you ask, but it’s the film with the highest stakes and the most exciting for action and stunts. You can see a lot of love and passion was put into those aspects, they are made to excite and thrill audiences, and they deliver on their mission in that aspect.

I highly recommend this film for a good time at the movies.