Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One ends on a cliffhanger that leaves Ethan's fate uncertain and sets up what's to come.

This article contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part OneTom Cruise comes back to save the world as he reprises his role of Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh installment of the beloved franchise, and as the title suggests, the beginning of the end. Despite the movie being over two and a half hours long, when the screen fades to black, Ethan’s mission is far from over. Director Christopher McQuarrie, wanting to bring more emotion to the franchise and give the characters more things to do, opted for splitting the movie into two parts, ending the first one on a cliffhanger that leaves the fate of the characters -and the human race- uncertain.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One follows Ethan Hunt as he embarks on his most dangerous mission yet, the search for two halves of a key that unlocks an Artificial Intelligence known as the Entity. The film introduces some new characters, most notably Grace (Hayley Atwell), a thief and Ethan’s newest ally. Fans of the franchise also get to see some familiar faces returning for this installment, including Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. Additionally, Vanessa Kirby’s the White Widow, introduced in the previous entry, Fallout, also returns in a more prominent role, and Henry Czerny reprises his role of Eugene Kittridge for the first time since 1996. By the time the credits roll, Ethan's race against time isn't done, and while the film itself has a conclusive ending, the major cliffhanger also sets up what's to come in part two.

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The film revolves around the Entity, an unimaginably powerful and sentient Artificial Intelligence which can only be controlled with two halves of a key. The explosion of the Sebastopol, a Russian submarine, kickstarts a dangerous race between the world powers to get their hands on the key and gain control of the Entity. The IMF (Impossible Mission Force) tasks Ethan Hunt with finding and delivering both halves of the key to the US government. However, as Ethan discovers the Entity’s true potential and the devastating consequences that such power could bring if it fell on the wrong hands, he realizes that the Entity must be destroyed.

Ethan, along with Luther, Benji, Ilsa, and Grace, a mysterious thief who later becomes their ally, find themselves at odds with their own government and the rest of the world powers as they locate both keys and set on to get them and destroy the Entity. However, Ethan and his allies are not the only ones aware of its locations. During a party where Ethan, Grace, and Ilsa learn about the key’s purpose, they meet the other people who want to get their hands on it. Gabriel (Esai Morales), an old nemesis from Ethan’s past and an Entity liaison, wants the key so the Entity can take over the world. Alanna Mitsopolis, the White Widow, a black-market arms dealer, also wants to get it, to sell it to the highest bidder. Afterward, Gabriel kills Ilsa, leaving Ethan devastated. Luther warns Ethan not to kill Gabriel, as he is the only one who knows how to use the key.

Before the final showdown, Grace agrees to join the IMF and help Ethan on his mission, and they get ready to board the Orient Express, where Alanna will meet her buyer. On the train, Gabriel meets Denlinger (Cary Elwes), Director of National Intelligence, who explains that the key unlocks a chamber in the Sevastopol submarine, which hosts the computer that can control or destroy the Entity, as it holds an early version of the AI. Gabriel proves he can't be underestimated and kills Denlinger. He also attempts to kill his subordinate, Paris (Pom Klementieff), suspecting she will betray him.

Grace boards the train impersonating the White Widow, thanks to the franchise’s iconic masks, and meets with the buyer, who turns out to be CIA Director Eugene Kittridge, with the complete key. She considers betraying Ethan for the money and her protection, but ultimately decides against it and pickpockets the key from Kittridge. Meanwhile, Ethan faces his most dangerous feat to date, as he hurls himself off a mountain cliff in order to get on the train. Ethan attempts to save Grace, but amidst the chaos, Gabriel gets the key.

Following a thrilling battle atop the moving train, Ethan faces a dilemma: killing Gabriel as a revenge for ending Ilsa’s life and all the pain he caused him in the past, or keeping him alive to find out what the key unlocks. Ultimately, Gabriel manages to escape, but Ethan steals the key. When Gabriel realizes this, it’s too late, and he angrily drives away, knowing he has failed the Entity and left it vulnerable.

As the train moves forward without brakes, Gabriel blows the tracks. During the film’s nail-biting climax, Ethan and Grace save the passengers by detaching the engine from the rest of the train, but some of the cars start falling to the lake. Ethan and Grace are faced with a seemingly impossible challenge, as they must climb a series of vertically-hanging cars just before they plummet to the lake. When all hope seems lost, Paris, bearing severe injuries, manages to save Ethan and Grace, as a way to pay him back for sparing her life earlier. As her final act, she tells Ethan that the key unlocks the Russian submarine, the Sebastopol. During the final scene, Grace tells Kittridge that she accepts her commitment to the IMF, while Ethan leaves the train with the complete key and the knowledge to stop the entity, leaving Grace behind.

While Ethan has the information he needs to destroy the entity, his mission is far from over. It is likely that fans will see him working alongside his allies again, finding a way to access the Sebastopol and destroying the Entity once and for all. Although Grace is now working for Kittridge, she now knows what's at stake, and will have to choose where her loyalty lies. Gabriel, having failed his mission, will likely seek revenge against Ethan, teasing the possibility of one final confrontation between the two. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One's cliffhanger ending serves as a satisfying conclusion to the film, but leaves enough questions and loose ends that will keep fans eagerly waiting for part two.

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Carola is a writer, filmmaker, and professional nerd. She enjoys binge-watching 500 shows and movies at a time and even finds joy in the daunting task that is trying to keep up with all of them. She is a huge Zelda and Pokemon fan, and she still hopes to someday become the very best like no one ever was.