WARWICK SHOWCASE

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-DEAD RECKONING PART ONE

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Back in the good old days of black and white TV, “Mission Impossible” was our favorite show.

Excitement, intrigue, action, innovative stories, and good guys and bad guys.

Here it is 2023, and the basic premises and techniques of the series are still in play.

Starting with that unforgettable theme song, the plot takes us from Ethan Hunt listening to his challenging mission on a self-destructing tape recorder, making the challenging decision to accept the mission, being indoctrinated by the secretive higher ups, and then doing the impossible.

The two-and-a-half-hour movie immediately grabs our attention as we find ourselves under the Bering Sea where a disaster connected to Artificial Intelligence occurs and we learn that a 2-part key is involved in the mystery.

And there’s Ethan, running through airports. Or is it Ethan? The old rubber mask trick is still a big part of the franchise and cleverly used throughout the movie.

We have read much about Tom Cruise and his passion to do his own stunts, and we watch his every move as we realize how much he is involved in driving those cars and motorcycles, running on top of a 60 mile-per-hour train and driving off a cliff with his cycle and parachute.

The stunts are mind-boggling and come at you from out of nowhere.

Cruise drives his tiny car down Rome’s Spanish Steps, runs across the expansive roof of the Abu Dhabi Airport, gets chased through the narrow alleys of Venice, seldom stopping to catch his breath.

Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames are along to provide help and a bit of comic relief.

There are arms dealers and assassins galore, as Ethan narrowly escapes their clutches.

And then there’s the ending, as the runaway trains plunges into obscurity and we realize that Part One has left poor Tom Cruise, and us, hanging.

We’ll have to wait for Part 2, but we’ll hopefully be there to see what other tricks Cruise could possibly have up his sleeve and behind his mask.