As a film critic, you must often stay completely impartial and never go into a film with high expectations or preconceived ideas of what you will be getting from the film. However, in the case of the seventh Mission: Impossible film, Dead Reckoning Part One, I was excited as a little schoolboy going to an amusement park. I almost cried when the legendary theme tune played in glorious IMAX sound, and I came out sweating, panting and totally exhausted. Not from the lengthy running time, just 15 minutes shy of three hours, but just how good it was. Blimey Charlie, it is exceptional.

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team have to find a key that comes in two parts. The key is for something, but no one knows what. All they know is that it is part of a deadly weapon that, if falling into the wrong hands, could have total power. With little to go on, Hunt finds himself a wanted man by the authorities, a group of government agents, and an old adversary, and he has to trust a thief called Grace to help him discover the key and what it does.

This is the third film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, and if you found the previous outing, Fallout, a sweaty palm experience, you ain’t seen anything yet. Thinking back to the early days of the franchise, it looked like it would falter after the John Woo-directed second instalment. Yet this is probably the only franchise that has got better as the series moves on, and what McQuarrie has done is taken the characters, fleshed them out so you care and keep the pace and thrills going throughout. As I said, this is close to three hours long, yet it feels more like a 90-minute movie, and when it ends, you long for more.

The relationships between the IMF team have become almost cosy, with Hunt, Benji, Luther and Ilsa so familiar now; you laugh at the banter, you get excited when the gadgets come out, and their involvements in the set pieces are always great fun, although this time, Benji and Luther don’t have as much to do as previous missions they still are just as important. It’s up to Ethan to take the risks this time, and as usual, the risks are upped with every film. We get a breathless car chase through the streets of Rome, which is both thrilling and funny in equal measure. We get a prolonged sequence in an airport that is relentless, and let’s not even go near the final 45 minutes, which is jaw-dropping.

Great use of locations also helps, with the movie jumping from Dubai to Rome, to Venice and the Austrian mountains. The whole plot centres around A.I and how artificial intelligence can control the world and destroy it. A topical subject, you may say, but considering the film was made about three or four years ago, and way before the current fears of A.I., you find yourself in awe that the franchise has now become so fortuitous.

The cast is terrific, with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Rebecca Ferguson all returning as Ethan’s team, while Vanessa Kirby is back as the deadly White Widow, bringing class and sophistication to the film. Hayley Atwell is the new introduction as Grace, the pickpocket caught in the middle of this cat-and-mouse game for the key that could change the world. She seems to be having a blast while adding another fully fleshed-out character to the series.

The film, however, is a Tom Cruise production, and don’t you forget it. No matter what you think of Cruise, you cannot be but amazed that this is a man willing to throw himself off a mountain on a motorbike eight times, so the film has one of the most breathtaking stunts around. Hunt has become the new James Bond, except Cruise offers so much screen charisma you cannot help but be charmed by him, and you know the danger is real. It is him behind the wheel of the car. It is him jumping the mountain. It is him running on the roof of the train. Like Keanu Reeves in the John Wick films, it just adds another dimension to the whole production.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is an absolute must-see. It has more excitement and peril than Indiana Jones (sorry, Harrison), it has more laugh-out-loud moments than most modern comedies, and it is pure cinematic entertainment. Last year, Cruise saved cinema with Top Gun: Maverick. I get the feeling he’s done it again. See it in a cinema on the biggest screen possible with the best sound and lose yourself for several hours in a heart-stopping, adrenaline-rushed slice of total fun. You will not be disappointed. Roll on Part Two.

5 out of 5

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen and (based on the television series created) Bruce Geller

Running Time: 164 mins

Cert: 12A

Release date: 10th July 2023