Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt, Mariela Garriga, Cary Elwes, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma.

You don’t escape from the rage of a volcano by standing still, you cannot avoid the avalanche by staring deep into the bleak white void as it hurtles towards you; and you don’t get to ignore the latest offering from the Mission Impossible franchise by declaring that it doesn’t appeal as an action film just because it is fronted by Tom Cruise.

The resonating thrill has palpably grown with each outing for Ethan Hunt and his various ragtag, but ultimately loyal team, and reached arguably a crescendo with the sensational Rebecca Ferguson and her insight into disavowed MI6 operative, Ilsa Faust. This introduction of a vibrant woman who could not only hold herself as an agent, but as an actor against arguably one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, was the shot in the arm for the series. The issue being is how do you top that, how do you offer a film to the audience which insists that Ms. Ferguson must not be allowed to be the only female character on the franchise who can beat the star at their own game.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning maybe the first part of a two set blockbuster, but the sheer kick of adrenaline that courses through the body as each action sequence is taken to the point of what may seem incredulity and doubt, but pulls back at the point of execution to leave the viewer desperate for more, makes the film a powerful reminder of why the spy genre may have its detractors but can never be truly be beaten when it encompasses a cast which gives it the one vital component; believability.

Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames continue to add the element of subtle humour which has come to aid the series, but it is to the addition of Vanessa Kirby in her second outing as arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis, Pom Kementieff in her debut as the manic but studiously poised assassin Paris, the guile of the aforementioned Rebecca Ferguson, and the stunning debut to the franchise of Hayley Atwell as the mysterious thief Grace, that the film’s most destructive sequences are imprinted upon the viewer.

For the ultimate star, Tom Cruise, the experience is one of exceptional passion. The actor has had many hits, films that he has been rightly praised for, characters that he has inhabited, and whilst his part in the astonishing The Outsiders often gets overlooked, it has to be pronounced that in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning that sense of leading man rears its fortunate head once more, and the reason it does is down to one thing, sharing the screen with four women at the very top of their game, who demand with deep articulation that they are the reason why the film is so damn good.

A film of unbelievable length, and worth every single minute it is on screen.

Ian D. Hall