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In Theaters

• Action/Adventure , Comedy

Content Caution

• June 21, 2024
• June Squibb as Thelma; Richard Roundtree as Ben; Parker Posey as Gail; Fred Hechinger as Daniel; Clark Gregg as Alan; Malcolm McDowell as Harvey

Home Release Date

• Josh Margolin

Distributor

• Magnolia Pictures

Movie Review

When you hit a certain age, your eyes don’t see as well, your ears don’t hear as well, your body and brain don’t connect as well.

Thelma is painfully aware of all that. Just sorting through her fistfuls of daily prescription pills for her high blood pressure and peripheral neuropathy, her this and her that, is a constant reminder that the old machine ain’t working like it used to. And on top of all that, losing her husband a few years back has left her a little lonely, too.

But Thelma is doing all right, thank you very much. At 93 she’s still mobile. She takes care of her own house. She has a loving relationship with her grandson, Danny. She navigates her world pretty well for a nonagenarian, and she’s actually very happy. But sometimes … all the negative things about growing old come rushing in.

She was recently fooled by scammers, for instance.

When her grandson called and said he was in jail for a car accident, Thelma accepted that news as being totally true. Sure, his voice sounded a bit strange. But Danny said that it was because he broke his nose when he hit a pregnant woman’s car. (Oh, that poor woman!) And then Danny’s lawyer called to say it was imperative to pull together $10,000 (in cash) if Thelma didn’t want Danny to go to prison. (Oh, my. No, no, no.)

What would any loving and lightly panicked grandmother do but quickly pull the cash together? And then quickly mail it. By the time Danny showed up to say he was OK, and he hadn’t been in an accident, well, the whole family knew of Thelma’s mistake. They all sighed. They all shook their heads.

Then Thelma overheard them saying that she wasn’t really capable of being on her own any longer; she wasn’t sharp enough, she needed care and watching.

That was the last straw.

Thelma may not be as sharp as she once was. But she’s still got plenty of edge to her. I mean, look at that Tom Cruise person, she notes. He’s not that many years younger than she is, and he’s still leaping off rooftops and riding motorcycles off mountain peaks in his Mission: Impossible movies.

If he can do that, then Thelma can find these scammer people and get her money back. She still has the address she mailed her package to, after all. When she fixes her mistake, she can prove that she doesn’t need to be chaperoned in some old folk’s home.

She’ll simply need some snacks, a little travel cash, a few Depends (for emergencies), oh, and a gun . Yes, they always wave a gun around in movies, and people pay attention. She can work all that out.

Thelma will make it happen. It’s her … Mission: Possible! That’ll show ‘em.

Positive Elements

Thelma is willing to go to any length to keep her grandson safe. And Danny feels pretty much the same about her. The twentysomething visits her often, spends evenings with her and gives her an emergency alert wrist band. When Thelma goes missing (on her quest to redeem herself), Danny blames himself for not watching her more carefully. And he does everything he can to bring her home. The two ultimately express their love for one another.

Frankly, blame for the scam on Thelma falls at least partially on her family members who fail to pick up when she attempts to call about Danny’s supposed incarceration. She fears that in the heat of the moment, she is his only source of help.

Danny has never been very successful at anything. And after Thelma goes missing, he thinks himself hopeless. But there are several people in his corner (including Thelma and Danny’s ex-girlfriend), and they encourage him to move forward. They note his admirable qualities as a good and caring man.

Thelma connects with an old friend, Ben, to borrow his electric scooter for transportation. And though reluctant, Ben decides to help her in her quest as a protective measure.

Spiritual Elements

Sexual content.

Danny’s mom wears a silky camisole top that clings to her curves.

Violent Content

Thelma sneaks into a friend’s room and steals the woman’s pistol. Then she drops it, and it fires into a room several floors below, smashing a vase. Later she pulls the gun on a man and shoots several times into a computer.

Ben’s scooter gets hit by a speeding vehicle and demolished. A cigarette tossed into a trash bin causes a discarded oxygen tank to explode.

While walking alone in the dark, Thelma takes a nasty, face-first fall and can’t get back up. She lies there incapacitated until someone comes by to help her. Later we see that the fall caused a dark bruise around her eye.

A male scammer threatens Thelma and slaps her phone out of her hand.

Several lamps are destroyed, a cockroach is smashed underfoot. Danny drives dangerously, careening through traffic.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear three f-words and three s-words, along with a half-dozen uses of “b—ch,” and several uses each of “a–” and “d–n.” God’s and Jesus’ names are both misused a total of nine times (with “God” being combined with “d–n” twice).

Drug and Alcohol Content

It appears that Thelma takes a long list of prescription drugs on a regular basis. (We see her sorting out her pills.) We also hear from someone that she’s dealt with breast cancer and a brain tumor in the past.

A man Thelma meets smokes several cigarettes, even though he’s on an oxygen feed. Danny talks about going out with friends and getting drunk enough that he doesn’t answer his phone in an emergency.

Other Negative Elements

The film makes it appear that the police are either incapable of helping defrauded seniors or just uncaring about their plight.

Thelma lies and steals in the course of her quest. She also makes some foolish and dangerous choices that the movie, for the most part, forgives without critiquing.

Danny’s parents tend to play the role of overprotective “helicopter parents” with both Danny and Thelma.

Actress June Squibb has been gracing stage and screen for a good long time. And now she gets her first lead role in a film at the young age of 94. Squibb hits her marks and cues with the seamless poise of a pro and delivers her punchlines with aplomb, but her film … isn’t always so graceful.

Don’t get me wrong, Thelma has some very nice, and at times tender, thoughts to share about family, the elderly, and the inevitable changes that come with age. But frankly, the whole doesn’t equal the parts.

Writer/director Josh Margolin attempts to make his protagonist’s get-the-scammers quest into something, uh, cute . But it becomes a silly fantasy adventure pic that tends to clash with June Squibb’s and Richard Roundtree’s earnest characterizations. And then when you lacquer everything with a coating of completely unnecessary crude language (including three f-bombs in a PG-13 movie!) the whole thing feels a bit out of sync.

Maybe it just needed more grandmotherly good sense.

It’s too bad, too. This could have been a film that family audiences would enjoy and mull over instead of one they’ll likely, and wisely avoid.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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$567m mission: impossible movie finds second life on netflix's global chart.

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Mission: Impossible 7's Box Office Disappointment Makes Replacing Tom Cruise So Much Harder

Willy wonka’s original “pure imagination” scene secret is a reminder of 1 drawback with the 2023 movie, “truly incredible”: screenwriter reacts to his 2005 action thriller being named a film of the century.

• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning thrives on Netflix, ranking third globally with 5.6 million views and high critical praise.
• Despite its initial box office underperformance, the movie shines with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and audience approval.
• The film's success on Netflix partially redeems its high budget and setbacks, making it a must-see action installment.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , which made $567 million in theaters, finds new life on Netflix's global chart. Co-written and directed once again by Christopher McQuarrie, the seventh installment in the action franchise finds Tom Cruise's IMF Agent Ethan Hunt and his team of operatives in a fight against a powerful rogue AI known as the Entity. The Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning cast includes other franchise regulars such as Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby alongside newcomers Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, and Pom Klementieff.

Now, nearly a year after its release, the latest Mission: Impossible movie has found new life on Netflix . For the past week of June 10-16, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning ranked third on Netflix's Global Top 10 chart with 5.6 million views and 15.3 million hours viewed. It ranked below Four Brothers in second and Hit Man in first, marking their second weeks in the Top 10.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning isn't available on Netflix in the United States , though it is streaming on Paramount+ and MGM+.

Dead Reckoning's Netflix Success Partially Redeems Its Box Office Underperformance

The mission: impossible movie was overshadowed by barbenheimer.

Dead Reckoning , originally subtitled Part One , is widely regarded as one of the best Mission: Impossible movies, with its 96% Rotten Tomatoes score sitting just behind Fallout 's 97% for the franchise high. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning reviews praise the movie's high-stakes scenarios and grand set pieces, making it a must-see installment in the franchise and one of the best action movies of 2023. Despite the massive critical acclaim for Dead Reckoning , it did underperform at the box office due to the dual release of Barbie and Oppenheimer the following weekend on July 21.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was a box office disappointment, and this failure will make it even harder to replace Tom Cruise.

Audiences who saw Dead Reckoning held it in as high regard as critics, as indicated by its 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with 5,000+ verified ratings. It also made over $567 million at the box office which, in and of itself, is an impressive figure and good enough for the ninth-highest-grossing movie of 2023. The reason why Dead Reckoning 's box office performance was considered a disappointment is because of its big $291 million budget , making it the 15th most expensive movie ever made.

A Mission Impossible movie's globe-trotting production is inherently costly and Dead Reckoning was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused several delays and ballooned the budget even more. With a $291 million budget, Dead Reckoning had to make $582-727 million just to become profitable. Because of Barbenheimer and its big budget, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning did underperform at the box office, but by becoming a global hit on Netflix, it has partially redeemed itself.

Source: Netflix

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning is an action-adventure spy thriller from director Christopher McQuarrie. It's the seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible series and a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The title will star Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ving Rhames.

This Tom Cruise Movie Missed the Target at the Box Office — But Its Hitting the Bullseye on Netflix

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The Big Picture

• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning has found success on Netflix after struggling to outdo its hefty budget at the box office.
• Despite its box office woes, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
• The shift towards digital consumption has given the film a second chance to shine and attract new fans.

Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt might be known for pulling off the impossible, but the latest mission didn't quite skyrocket at the box office. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , co-written and directed by franchise veteran Christopher McQuarrie , initially seemed like it couldn't dodge the box office bullet. But much like Ethan Hunt escaping an exploding Kremlin, the seventh installment of this adrenaline-fueled saga has found a new avenue for victory: Netflix.

Nearly a year after its theatrical release, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning has surged back into the spotlight, climbing Netflix's Global Top 10 chart for the week of June 10-16. With 5.6 million views and a staggering 15.3 million hours clocked in, it secured the third spot, nestled comfortably behind Four Brothers and Hit Man . While it isn't available on Netflix in the United States — where it continues its mission on Paramount+ and MGM+ — the international Netflix audience has embraced Ethan Hunt's latest escapade.

Despite garnering a hefty $567 million worldwide, Dead Reckoning faced an unexpected challenge that even Ethan Hunt might struggle with: the double whammy of Barbie and Oppenheimer (affectionately dubbed "Barbenheimer") releasing the following weekend. The simultaneous drop of these cinematic heavyweights overshadowed what was supposed to be a dominating performance for the IMF crew.

How Good Is 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning'?

Critics and audiences alike hailed Dead Reckoning as one of the franchise's finest, boasting a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 94% audience rating . These accolades placed it just a notch below the revered Fallout , but the $291 million production budget, which reached such a height due to COVID constraints , demanded more than just applause. To break even, the film needed to rake in $582-727 million — a mission made nearly impossible by pandemic-induced delays and stiff competition.

Though the theatrical run didn't hit the expected highs, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning is doing what Ethan Hunt does best : adapting and overcoming. Its resurgence on Netflix isn't just a testament to its lasting appeal but also a reminder of the shifting landscapes of film consumption. With audiences now binge-watching Hunt's fight against the rogue AI known as the Entity, the film is experiencing a renaissance.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning may have stumbled at the box office, but its digital success underscores a vital truth in today’s entertainment world: the game isn’t over when the credits roll on opening weekend. With its gripping action sequences and edge-of-your-seat plot twists, it’s no wonder fans are flocking to Netflix to catch Ethan Hunt in action once more. Stay tuned to Collider for more. International fans can catch the film on Netflix and U.S. readers can head over to Paramount+ .

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

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

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Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works.

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'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' lauded for action-packed drama: 'Impeccably made'

"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" has yet to rocket into theaters, but the film is already shaping up to be a tour-de-force action flick as far as critics are concerned .

The Christopher McQuarrie-directed action thriller starring Tom Cruise , set for a July 12 release, had its global premiere at the Spanish Steps in Rome on Monday. Cruise, looking dapper in an all-blue suit, appeared on the red carpet alongside his "Dead Reckoning" castmates, including co-star Hayley Atwell .

The latest film in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, "Dead Reckoning" follows the adrenaline-pumping stunt shenanigans of Cruise's superspy Ethan Hunt as he wards off deadly forces.

So far, the film has earned rave reviews from critics for its stunning action sequences and compelling performances.

Erik Davis of Fandango called "Dead Reckoning" an "impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining."

" Each action sequence is long, crazy and intense, " Davis wrote on Twitter. "The story is big and sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete and left you dying for what comes next."

I had the absolute best time watching #MissionImpossible - an impeccably made action film that does not stop entertaining. Each action sequence is long, crazy & intense. The story is big & sprawling, but I like how it both felt complete & left you dying for what comes next pic.twitter.com/iNaKlDMH8l — Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) June 19, 2023

Perri Nemiroff of Collider said the film is "another winner for the franchise," including the addition of "Mission: Impossible" freshman Atwell.

"Tom Cruise is A+ as always and Rebecca Ferguson continues to be a favorite, but franchise newcomer Hayley Atwell wound up being the major standout for me," Nemiroff tweeted . "She can do it all. Action, comedy, a capable hero in many respects while trying to get her sea legs in others."

While Screen Rant's Joe Deckelmeier commended the film's action, he also noted how "Dead Reckoning" incorporates new technology into the film's plot. " With (artificial intelligence) being the villain, this feels like a cautionary tale, " Deckelmeier wrote on Twitter.

Germain Lussier, a senior entertainment reporter at Gizmodo, wrote that the film "gets a little dense at times, but its pace and intensity more than cover that."

" 'Dead Reckoning Part One' is fantastic, " Lussier tweeted. "Huge variety of action and a final set piece that ranks top 2-3 all-time for the franchise."

More 'Dead Reckoning': Tom Cruise races through Rome in 20 minutes of 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning' footage

'Top tier Martin Scorsese': 'Killers of the Flower Moon' gets rapturous reception at Cannes

Contributing: Brian Truitt, USA TODAY

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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One review – As muscular, extravagant and old school as its star

Tom cruise represents all that is human in the face of a cold and robotic future in this thrilling sequel, article bookmarked.

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Top Gun : Top Gun: Maverick and the new Mission: Impossible share the same message: that Tom Cruise , and Tom Cruise alone, is the last line of defence against the AI invasion. At a time like this, when a sudden panic over the profitability of digitised entertainment has seen streaming services slash and burn their own content while Hollywood’s writers remain on strike, Cruise has cunningly positioned himself as the idealistic (and no doubt patriotic) alternative. He is all that is human in the face of a cold and robotic future. Pure muscle and sweat.

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is the only man on Earth capable of defeating a seemingly sentient, AI-powered virus that possesses the ability to infiltrate any top-secret infrastructure it sets its sights on, like, say, the CIA or the World Bank. Finally, the super spy’s greatest asset – the limitless pool of technology that has, over the course of six earlier films, allowed him to wear other people’s faces as masks and scale the Burj Khalifa – has turned against him. Dead Reckoning can, admittedly, feel a little too immaculate and calculated when held up against the more lofty, idea-driven blockbusters of our age (say, a Dune or an Across the Spider-Verse ). But any simplicity here is outweighed by the sheer force of Cruise’s brand.

The film is a mirror image of its star – a muscular, extravagant, thoroughly old-school work of ingenuity and craft. In it, Hunt chases two halves of a key with a mysterious connection to the AI across several fabulous international locations: Abu Dhabi, Rome, Venice and the UK (standing in for the Alps). His loyal techies, Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji ( Simon Pegg ), are always stationed nearby.

On the way, he crosses paths with various beautiful European women and surly American agency workers. Rebecca Ferguson ’s magnetic Ilsa Faust returns, as does Vanessa Kirby ’s aristocratic arms dealer, White Widow. Hayley Atwell appears as a master thief who’s also, somehow, the closest the franchise has ever been to a bumbling Hugh Grant-type. Although still notably underused, Pom Klementieff’s largely silent henchwoman is the film’s non-Cruise-related standout. Maniacally bloodthirsty and exquisitely well-dressed, she is a slick combination of classic Bond villain and DC’s Harley Quinn. Shea Whigham and Greg Tarzan Davis play two intelligence officers who have no clue how to apprehend Hunt and his team, but still give it the old college try.

We’re supposedly at the beginning of the end here, with next year’s Dead Reckoning Part Two set to be Cruise’s final outing in the role (or so he claims). Yet, Part One shares very little in common with today’s brand of indulgent, self-reflective, legacy-obsessed sequels. There are one or two connections to the past; the film’s human antagonist, Gabriel (Esai Morales), arrives together with a glimpse of Hunt’s pre-spy existence. But Hunt, really, is too busy saving the world to have any kind of existential crisis, stuck in a life that’s now become as mundane to him as any office job.

Mission: Impossible is exactly the sort of franchise in which people simply roll their eyes when the bomb they’re trying to detonate turns out (of course!) to be a nuclear one. That lack of ponderousness is embedded bone-deep into Dead Reckoning , and how returning director Christopher McQuarrie chooses to operate. The action sequences are consistently dynamic, and always adapted to their environment: a shoot-out in a sandstorm focuses on stealth and precision, while a Vespa chase down Rome’s many staircases is all cartoon chaos. It all culminates in an absolutely insane stunt in which Cruise drives a motorcycle off a cliff and then parachutes down onto a moving train. You will leave Dead Reckoning the same way you always do: wondering how Cruise could possibly outdo himself in the next one – until, inevitably, he does.

Dir: Christopher McQuarrie. Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny. 12A, 163 minutes.

‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ is in cinemas from 10 July

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Does Pixar’s latest live up to the 2015 original? Or are their reasons for parents to be … anxious? You might be surprised by the answers to those questions

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How Do Christian Parents Keep Up with Their Children’s Screen Consumption?  The expert media staff at Plugged In have compiled a must-read resource to help you understand the media your children consume. Years of researching and analyzing the latest media trends are compiled in Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family.  Offering practical advice and strategies to help your children navigate the ever-changing landscape of pop culture, Becoming a Screen Savvy Family includes social media, music, streaming services, video games, movies, and more to help you dialogue with your children about the content that they are exposed to. The effects of technology and media consumption on children are far-reaching, impacting their mental health, sleep patterns, attention spans, and social skills. In Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family , you’ll learn - the effects on your children’s biology, behaviors, and beliefs; - traits of engaged parents, creating a game plan, and how to step in when needed; - how to screen those screens; and - practical strategies for limiting screen time and thinking critically about media.  Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family will quickly become an essential tool to guide your family’s relationship with media and your child’s screen consumption.

Both "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" and Tom Cruise look and feel exhausted

Ethan hunt chose to accept this mission, which is only the first of two parts. but you don't have to, by gary m. kramer.

Perhaps the most unbelievable thing in " Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" isn't the nifty gravity-defying stunts on a train, or the deceitful trickery that unfolds in low-key airport escapade, or the extended car chase through the streets of Italy, but that the opening sequence features a Russian submarine, Seebastopol, sinking in the Bering Sea. It is an unfortunately timed bit of cinema that almost casts a pall over this bloated film. 

Cruise just does not seem to be having fun here, and viewers may share his fatigue.

The Russian submarine is sunk during an underwater skirmish in what might be an imaginary game of "Battleship." Torpedoes are launched by both vessels, but suddenly things vanish when they are supposed to make impact. What emerges from this incident is the film's McGuffin, a special key that is comprised of two parts that need to be interlocked to access "The Entity" which has the capability to overtake the world intelligence networks and weaponize them. So, obviously, this key should not fall into the wrong person's hands.

Enter Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise ) of the IMF. (That's "Impossible Mission Force," not "International Monetary Fund," as one character wonders.) Ethan has chosen to accept his mission to recover the two keys. And so begins an overlong game of Three-card Monte, as the keys are snatched up and pocketed and stolen (step and repeat and repeat) by various players from familiar faces including Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and The White Widow ( Vanessa Kirby ), to series newcomers Gabriel (Esai Morales) and Grace (Hayley Atwell). Actually, Gabriel is not new to Ethan; they have a past that is shown briefly in flashbacks that provides a little context. 

Gabriel is actually the best thing in "Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One." The suave Morales slinks through the film making his unflappable villain alluring. He can disappear as in the aforementioned airport episode, and he is also all-knowing, informing one character that they will betray him — and why — before it happens. Morales is such a smooth operator one might wish he played Ethan Hunt because Tom Cruise looks weary in the role.  

Cruise just does not seem to be having fun here, and viewers may share his fatigue. His initial meeting with Grace, a pickpocket he picks up because she may hold a key to the keys, is flat, rather than charming. Cruise's megawatt smile seems dimmed. A subsequent comic action sequence has the pair handcuffed together trying to drive a tiny yellow Fiat through the streets of Italy and encountering a series of obstacles, but it is neither amusing nor exciting. Moreover, there is no chemistry between these attractive leads. At least Hayley Atwell tries to imbue Grace with an air of mystery that prompts viewers to question if she is trustworthy, but that's pretty much all Atwell gets to do. She is a welcome addition but mostly wasted. 

The entire film feels jury-rigged as if every action sequence — and there are too few of them — is designed by an algorithm rather than a human.

Director Christopher McQuarrie mostly puts his cast through the motions without creating any emotion. "Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" is almost devoid of thrills. A criminally boring sequence involves Ethan's colleague Benji ( Simon Pegg ) having to defuse a bomb by answering a series of riddles. When "The Entity," hacks into Luther's ( Ving Rhames ) tech and gives Ethan wrong directions during a foot chase through Venice, making the hero too late, what transpires lacks the desired impact. McQuarrie overplays the scene here reaching operatic heights he should save for the daredevilling.

The entire film feels jury-rigged as if every action sequence — and there are too few of them — is designed by an algorithm rather than a human. Perhaps the nefarious Entity wrote the lame screenplay? The script, which feels wholly artificial, was actually penned by McQuarrie, Bruce Geller and Erik Jendresen. But it does seem odd that Denlinger ( Cary Elwes ), the Director of National Intelligence, asks to define the meaning of the word "sentient" when he is told The Entity has become sentient. "Are you telling me, it has a mind of its own?" he asks, incredulous. Yes, Delinger, that is what "sentient" means. And it is no clearer when The Entity is vaguely described as "a mind-reading, shapeshifting, incarnation of chaos."

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Even the familiar tricks of a character wearing face masks to disguise themselves as someone else feels old. An early sequence involving a strange man entering a meeting lacks surprise, and a bit where Grace poses as another character only ensures that ruse will be discovered at the wrong moment. The franchise may rely on its gimmicks, but it does not generate nostalgia; it just feels stale. 

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The stunts do provide some spectacle, with Cruise getting involved in some aerial action, but it is maybe an hour or so into this 163-minute movie before a car chase, and it is not necessarily that exhilarating. "Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" should be breathtakingly entertaining edge-of-your-seat wall-to-wall action , but even a bit involving the characters fighting on top of runaway train feels tired. Hasn't this all been done before and better? 

What is disheartening is that this is only "Part One." That the film does not end on a gripping cliffhanger is not encouraging. There should be anticipation for the next installment, but McQuarrie fails to generate even that. 

As the characters in the IMF are told they must choose their mission, viewers should make the choice to pass on this one.

"Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One" is in theaters July 12.

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Gary M. Kramer is a writer and film critic based in Philadelphia. Follow him on Twitter .

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