Tom Cruise Masterclass: In Review of Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One
Tom Cruise returns with his well renowned Mission Impossible series. This time bringing the first part of Dead Reckoning to cinema screens with Christopher McQuarrie, the mastermind behind many highly regarded Tom Cruise films and he’s back with a bang.
A good place to begin would be the cinematography as it was inventive and carries with it the tension that the Mission Impossible series is famous for. However, the camera did manage to find itself slightly disadvantaged by the physical space between the actors and sometimes even the physical space around them. A key example of this is the combat sequence between Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and two others in a narrow alleyway in Venice. This small space allowed the cameraman to feel like there was a struggle to find a suitable angle, so the result was an awkward viewing for the duration of this fight. However, where the camera work comes into its own was within the opening sequence in the room inside an office building. The way that McQuarrie utilized cuts between the faces of the people in the room made for an engaging experience and allowed the viewer to really experience the emotions of the persons in the film. The cinematography continues to improve as when another person enters the room (Ethan in a mask) the camera tells us that he is suspicious without dialogue. Skillful work by Fraser Taggart and McQuarrie.
To accompany the cinematography, the score is effective rather than good except from the iconic Mission Impossible score of course. The reason for this being that the score only seemed to have one purpose, to emphasize the tension which it achieved quite well over the course of the film’s narrative. At times, the silence was the best part of the score, especially during scenes that someone dies, or someone’s life is at risk.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the action was very impressive and enjoyable to watch as this is the type of action that Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny wishes it had. A key moment to identify is the scene in which Ethan and Grace (Hayley Atwell) are trying to escape a train that is slowly falling from the top of a destroyed bridge. The most intense part is when they are in the car that had completely been flipped vertically with a piano looming above them and slowly threatening to drop. The constant cutting between the actors and the hook of which the piano was being held upon was quite amazing.
Overall, this film was fantastic and worth a watch in all its glory. It met the standards I was thinking about before the film as Mission Impossible has always been a good series and this didn’t ruin it, simply fantastic work.
