Ethan Hunt and his team are back again! Once again on the run as the America Government is chasing his team believing he is a danger to his country and the rest of the world.

It is impressive to have nearly the same setup for each subsequent Mission Impossible film and yet it always works. This film spends even less time setting it all up, getting us right into the action.

Understandably as there is a lot to get into. Not only with the story but with the exposition of new characters and the latest threat to Ethan and Co. and the world.

Luther, Benji, and Ilsa are all back in their respective roles on this team. Kittridge (Henry Czerny) is back from the first one, again, holding his cards close to his chest like in the first film.

The latest villain is Gabriel played by Esai Morales, who has an even bigger baddie behind him. Also, Hayley Atwell as Grace, becomes a welcomed addition to the team.

Great chemistry with Tom Cruise. Grace seemingly has a lot in common with Ethan Hunt and how Ethan got his start in the IMF. We get a brief backstory that also explains Gabriel.

Gabriel brings possibly the greatest threat we have seen in one of these films. Artificial Intelligence, the likes of which we have never seen. It makes sense that A.I. has finally become a villain in one of these films.

Unless you went with the Fast and Furious route and there kept being someone else who was smarter, faster, stronger, and more technologically advanced, you couldn’t keep one-upping the bad guys in the Mission films.

Plus, A.I. has taken a front seat in pop culture lately. So, it was only a matter of time before A.I. became the villain in several movies. There was even a trailer for another A.I. villain film before Dead Reckoning.

However, the A.I. in this film is much more sophisticated than what we have access to. Not the A.I. we have that creates nightmare-inducing images and videos when you ask it to create Will Smith eating pasta.

It is in all of this stuff where the film struggles. Having to explain Grace and Gabriel. The backstory of Gabriel is foggy, maybe we will get a clearer picture in part 2. But for now, his backstory doesn’t connect to a previous film, which begs the question; why show what they show?

It’s hard to explain without spoilers but when you see the film you’ll understand what I am talking about. This mixed with the at times convoluted A.I. and some of the exposition gets ridiculous.

However, the stunts are as expected, spectacular. Specifically, the train crash sequence left one kid in my theater scared enough to run to the back of the theater in an attempt to get away from the screen.

The film is really one large chase sequence. Going from place to place there is barely time for the characters to catch their breath. Doing the chasing are two American agents led by Shea Whigham, who is one of the best character actors working today and makes everything he is in 20% better.

So, the plot gets a little hair-brained at times, especially without a resolution since this is only part 1, but the actions set pieces are outstanding and worth the price of admission.

Its daunting 163-minute runtime fly’s by because the action is so good. Fans of the franchise will be pleased.

4/5 Stars