In case you haven’t watched Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in theaters yet, we have one question – why?

Tom Cruise has been at it since 1996, and this time around, it seems like he hasn’t aged a day. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (we’ll just refer to it as Dead Reckoning Part One) is the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible movie series, which is based on the 1966 TV series of the same name.

Dead Reckoning Part One continues the storyline of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout as we see Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) leading what is left of his IMF team – Luther (Ving Rhames), and Benji (Simon Pegg) – as they face off with an all-powerful villain called “The Entity,” which is seemingly Ethan Hunts’ most fearsome adversary yet. And when I say face off I do mean a lot of faces being removed, so expect this Mission: Impossible staple to make an appearance once again in unexpected and very funny ways!

Ethan is once again given an impossible mission to get a key (one of two parts) with an undisclosed use or purpose. If you’ve seen any of the previous films in the series, you’ll know that it’s either a biological weapon or something to that extent, but there’s a kicker – the key is currently in the hands of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), former MI6 agent turned rogue, turned temporary IMF member, turned love interest, turned rogue again. It’s madness I tell you, and while not quite as mad as Han and Giselle coming back from the dead in Fast and the Furious, the stakes are definitely higher this time around.

Dead Reckoning Part One embraces the absurdity of it all, especially with its action scenes. As an action movie, you can’t get any more exciting than this, especially since it has been well-documented that Cruise himself has been literally hands-on with most, if not all, of the scenes here. There’s that very well-executed motorbike-off-the-cliff scene, but there’s also another one in here that vaguely reminded me of a 2009 PlayStation 3 game that I absolutely loved, although I’d have to say that the resulting shot here feels a tad bit off in terms of editing. The set pieces here are grand, and the team spared no expense in giving viewers a spectacle-filled experience.

Cruise also links up with some MCU favorites in the form of Hayley Atwell (Grace) and Pom Klementieff (Paris), further reinforcing similarities to the recently released Fast X which featured the likes of Brie Larson. Interestingly, Dead Reckoning Part One feels like a mix of James Bond (spy action), Fast and the Furious (car chases), with a hint of Black Mirror (technology getting the better of us), topped off with some humor on the side. It’s an almost predictable mix, but it turned out to be an action-packed movie that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

At the core of Dead Reckoning Part One is its action, and it’s impressive that Tom Cruise and the team can still find ways to impress us with over-the-top stunts that never fail to thrill and excite audiences worldwide. There’s a car-chase scene in Rome that’s fantastically shot and really pumped up adrenaline levels to maximum, which happens many times over the course of its 2-hour and 45-minute runtime. It goes without saying, then, that this is a must-watch in IMAX, so if you’re planning to check it out, we would highly recommend going the full mile.

If you’re looking to watch an action film, this will surely satiate your appetite. As a Mission: Impossible film? Hmm, I may have seen better, but it’s also hard to complain about how this all turns out in the end. The cliffhanger sets up Part Two well, but I’m left to question how neatly the next film can tie up everything.

Despite that, one good thing about Dead Reckoning Part One is its feeling of completeness. It’s been marketed as a Part One to an obvious Part 2 a la Avengers, but after sitting through it, the movie feels like it could already stand on its own. Does it need a Part Two? Sure, why not? I’d love to see Cruise and the gang fully resolve the loose threads about The Entity, but I left the cinema feeling satisfied either way.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Paramount Pictures.