This is the seventh instalment in the Mission: Impossible film series that started all the way back in 1996 and is unusual in that there has only been one dud entry (number two) and the best entries in the series have been the last three.
Of course, the ageless Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt along with his IMF colleagues Luther Stickell (Ving Rhame), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Also making his first appearance since the original Mission: Impossible movie is Henry Czerny as the IMF director Eugene Kittridge.
This time round, Ethan and his team are tasked to retrieve two halves of a key that can harness or neutralise an Artificial Intelligence threat. Each entry in this series seems to up the ante when it comes to the action sequences and Dead Reckoning Part One continues that trend. There is a brilliant car chase through the streets of Rome and an extraordinary climatic sequence on a train that is preceded by as astonishing Tom Cruise stunt.
There is also a bit more humour especially in the interactions between Ethan and pickpocket Grace, played by the terrific Hayley Atwell, that veer into the screwball comedy territory and of course whenever Benji appears.
My only criticisms are that there is maybe one scene too many trying to explain the plot, which does not really make a lot of sense, and that Ilsa has little to contribute. There are, though, a lot of good performances in the rest of the cast, including Shea Whigham as a CIA operative, Pom Klementieff as an assassin and an increasingly unhinged White Widow (Vanessa Kirby).
As the title indicates, the story is not resolved, with the concluding part due this time next year, but that did not spoil my enjoyment as the 163 minute run time flew by.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10