The first reactions to Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One are here

The seventh installment in the Mission Impossible franchise premieres in theaters on July 10

By AV Club Staff  |  June 20, 2023 | 8:05pm
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The first reactions to Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One are here
Tom Cruise Photo: Paramount Pictures/Skydance

Now that Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is less than a month away, it’s time to find out whether or not the seventh installment in Tom Cruise’s death (of cinema)-defying franchise lives up to the hype. As early reactions for the film start to roll in, it’s beginning to become apparent that number 7 is definitely a lucky number for Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his penchant for outlandish missions peppered with massive stunts.

For the most part, viewers and critics alike had plenty of flowers to deliver to the film, which appears to have more than earned its two-and-a-half-hour run time. Early critical reactions highlight MI7's “through the roof” production value, “next-level” action sequences, and overall “behemoth-sized spectacle.” As one reviewer simply puts it: “It’s a must see on the largest screen available.”

The film also received positive feedback for wrangling a “sprawling” and “dense” story, still managing to leave at least one reviewer “dying for what comes next” and actually setting up the film for an upcoming second half. Overall, the film received widespread praise for setting up and pulling off a big swing (and for keeping Henry Czerny fans fed).

However, not every viewer was completely swept away by the action, with The Wrap critic Scott Mendelson calling the film “a big letdown” with “wonky dialogue, oddly broad acting, and narrative contrivances/shortcuts.” And although Uproxx writer Mike Ryan opined that the film functions well as director Christopher McQuarrie’s “ambitious examination of/meditation on AI and the dangerous path we might be on,” he ultimately decides that it’s “not as satisfying” as the last Mission: Impossible film, 2018's Mission: Impossible—Fallout.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One premieres in theaters on July 12.

 
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