'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' is a jaw-dropping masterclass in action — but it needs a tighter script

• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" is an exhilarating ride of stunts and action.
• Tom Cruise and his team are kept on their toes by ruthless villains and a dangerous AI.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it," are the words that preface every unfeasible task that Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has to throw himself into in order to save the world in the previous six "Mission: Impossible" movies.

But these operations are never a choice. Not really.

If anything, the illusion of choice influences Hunt and his agents to accept these so-called impossible missions — because if they don't, who will?

The concepts of choice, free will, and fate are even more prevalent when Hunt has to battle a highly sophisticated AI in "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One."

While the movie kicks off in the murky depths of the ocean, it's crystal clear that writer and director Christopher McQuarrie is warning us about the dangers of artificial intelligence, and how it could threaten humanity.

It's a compelling story, largely because it feels so relatable considering the public discourse around AI over the last few years.

Throw in a fear-inducing opening sequence that unfortunately swims a little too close to recent headlines, and McQuarrie has crafted a unique threat for Hunt and his team.

The script is hampered by needless exposition

Annoyingly, the script is crammed with plot-dumping dialogue that constantly reminds the audience why the team is hunting a piece of technology across the world, and repeatedly lectures viewers about why the AI is so dangerous. After an hour, it gets tiresome.

Realistically, though, audiences are here for the huge spectacle of a "Mission: Impossible" movie, and the filmmakers know that.

Thankfully, McQuarrie and Cruise pull off a jaw-dropping masterclass in action filmmaking.

But the action is perfect

Paramount hasn't been shy about showing off Cruise's ambitious mountain jump in "Dead Reckoning Part One" but nothing can really prepare you for just how wild it is to watch him do it on the big screen.

McQuarrie revs the tension up as the motorcycle reaches the cliff-edge, before Hunt takes a leap of faith into the Norwegian valley in an awesome feat of adrenaline and ambition.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the exhilarating sequences littered throughout the film, including a claustrophobic alleyway fight between Hunt and Paris (Pom Klementieff), Benji defusing a bomb that knows who he is, and the nightmarish obstacle course in the movie's climax.

McQuarrie does occasionally weave in some quieter moments between the agents, especially the charming, if unspoken, relationship between Hunt and Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). However, the franchise once again underserves its women with how disappointingly interchangeable they are in Hunt's team.

Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff bring some fire to the sequel

Luckily, when the scene-stealing Grace — played by Hayley Atwell — comes into play, she brings a dynamite sense of chaos with her, and it's a lot of fun watching the Marvel star bounce off of Cruise and Esai Morales' big bad, Gabriel.

Morales' foil just about holds his own against Hunt's team. Gabriel has a quiet, intimidating presence about him, but he never reaches the heights of Henry Cavill's arm-reloading brute of a villain in the previous movie, "Fallout."

"Guardians of the Galaxy" star Pom Klementieff's impulsive assassin, Paris, is, however, an absolute firecracker.

As Gabriel's ferocious second-in-command, Paris is gleefully unhinged throughout the whole mission — even taking great delight in destroying the Spanish Steps in Rome with an armored truck.

"Dead Reckoning Part One" is just the first installment in a two-part adventure — in case the title doesn't give it away — but for all the exposition plaguing the script, surprisingly, it feels like a standalone movie.

The audience is left with a couple of questions by the end, but this writer didn't leave the theater with a sense of urgency to see "Part Two." In that regard, all the information that the viewer is forced to take in feels somewhat like cramming for a test that may never come.

There's nothing wrong with peppering franchise continuity into singular stories, something the previous two "Mission: Impossible" movies executed perfectly. Next to the razor-sharp, standalone plot of "Fallout," Dead Reckoning Part One" falls short story-wise. But at least the stunts keep getting bigger, and better.

This review will self-destruct in 3, 2, 1...

"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" is in theaters on July 12.