IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) joins Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), an ex-MI6 agent, on a mission to find the other half of a cruciform key needed to control a cyber threat known as "The Entity." Gabriel (Esai Morales), Ethan's nemesis, also desperately wants to find the key.

      The screenplay by writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and his co-writers, Bruce Geller and Erik Jendresen, isn't as clever nor as intriguing as the previous film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but it nonetheless combines suspense, action, comic relief and thrills while still being entertaining on a superficial level. The plot becomes increasingly complex and doesn't always make sense even with all of the exposition that makes it crystal clear what items have to be found in order to control "The Entity." The MacGuffin this time around happens to be a fail-safe key, so only the authentic key halves can successfully combine to form the powerful key. Not surprisingly, there's always the possibility that whatever key Ethan and his crew find could be fake after all. There are so many characters here that it might make your head spin at times. Just when you think you've met all of the essential characters, Grace (Haley Atwell), Alanna Mitsopolis, a.k.a.The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Paris (Pom Klementieff), who works for Gabriel, show up as well. They're all merely plot devices, and there's clearly not enough time to develop all of them which explains why this Mission: Impossible is split into two parts. Fortunately, the banter between Ethan and Grace is witty and amusing as they both try to con each other. The more you're able to suspend your disbelief, the better because plausibility isn't among the film's strengths. As Hitchock once wisely observed, "Logic is dull. There's something more important than logic: imagination." When it comes to imagination, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One has just enough of that essential element to avoid becoming a dull experience. To be fair, though, action sequences that take place on top of fast-moving trains like one that takes place here and in the recent Indiana Jones are starting to get somewhat tiresome, boring and unimaginative, so hopefully Part Two will avoid that lazy, conventional set piece.

      Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is lucky to have such a fine ensemble cast because each of them manages to elevate the film above mediocrity and help you to not feel the weight of the nearly 3-hour running time. Simon Pegg and Ving Rames have great comedic timing as they provide most of the comic relief, just as expected. Tom Cruise, Rebecca Fergison, Hayley Atwell and Vanessa Kirby ooze plenty of charisma on screen. Esai Morales and Pom Klementieff are also terrific. Cruise and Atwell have palpable charisma together and make it fun to watch their characters flirt with one another. The action choreography, stunt work, cinematography, editing and sound design are all top-notch and help make the film a truly cinematic, big-screen Spectacle. Seeing it on the small screen would significantly diminish that Spectacle. At a running time of 2 hours and 43 minutes, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is an exhilarating, suspenseful and thrilling spectacle.