A Look Back at “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning”

Now, it’s finally time to get into the last two installments of this lucrative franchise - which has earned roughly $4.35 billion worldwide. This review will focus solely on my revisit of “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning,” which I remembered checking out for the Examiner when this movie initially was released.

“Dead Reckoning” had a bit of a rough start when it was in production. In January 2019, it was announced that the next two movies (this movie and “The Final Reckoning” - then titled “Dead Reckoning - Part Two”) - would be shot back-to-back. This sequel began filming in February 2020 before being shut down due to the pandemic. Filming for this “Mission” didn’t initially wrap up until September 2021.

In “Dead Reckoning,” Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world, a deadly race around the globe begins.

Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission - not even the lives of those he care about most.

“Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning,” just like the previous few entries, delivers more exhilarating action and many, many intense moments. Now, while the action is still really awesome to watch, the seventh installment’s plot can be slightly convoluted and has a lot going on.

Like the other installments, “Dead Reckoning” featured quite a few stand out

sequences. A lot of those moments, which includes a tense shootout scene in a desert, can be both intriguing and a bit suspenseful. The stand out sequence of this movie is definitely the one towards the end where we see Ethan Hunt jump off a cliff while being on a motorcycle.

There’s a scene in this movie that shows Ethan and Grace (a professional thief turned ally), handcuffed together as they drive through Rome’s narrow streets as they’re being chased. Not only does this action moment be intense at times, it also has a few comedic moments, which gives this action scene a slightly different vibe.

The main plot of this “Mission” can be both intriguing and complicated. The plot revolves around an artificial intelligence, called The Entity, that has gone rogue and we see several people (and world powers) who want to control The Entity. Some of the plot devices, such as The Entity’s ability to predict and manipulate events, can also add to the confusion a bit.

So, despite the convoluted plot, “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning” is still an enjoyable action-paced “Mission.”

Trivia: The frequent delays caused by the pandemic ballooned the budget to $291 million, making it the second most expensive movie in the franchise (the No. 1 most expensive is the latest installment). For the infamous sequence at the end, a year’s worth of preparation went into the stunt, with Cruise performing over 500 skydives to learn how to control himself in the air, and practicing jumping his motorcycle off a purpose built practice ramp after cocking up over 13,000 jumps on a motocross track. 

Due to the releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” as well as the strong holdover in “Sound of Freedom” on its third weekend, this movie suffered the biggest second weekend box office drop of any movie in the franchise (64.6%) surpassing “Mission: Impossible II” (53.3%) and ranking 4th domestically that weekend. “Dead Reckoning” eventually grossed $172.6 million domestic and $398.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $571.1 million.

You can currently find “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning” and the others on Paramount Plus and don’t forget to see my personal ranking of the series at the end of my “Final Reckoning” review!