aka Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 1
Section 31 is back again! Oh wait, sorry. The IMF is back again! Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt with a mission to stop the dissemination of a rogue AI program (the Entity) from taking over the world. The AI is able to edit all digitized information in real time, including erasing Gabriel (Esai Morales) from video feeds while walking through airport security. This is a very very extreme parallel to the Laughing Man character from GitS: SAC1, with the exception that the Entity is doing it with malice and without motivation.
Film also introduces more people to Haley Atwell, as the token beauty of the film. A thief who entangles herself in the IMF’s mission, but due to limited screentime of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, she becomes the everyman that dumbs things down for the viewer.
Action setpieces are more subdued, sans the BASE jump from the peak of the Swiss Alps (not a spoiler since it’s in the trailer). I’d say the cat and mouse car chases went on a little too long, but didn’t get boring.
Overall a good return to form for the series, a little unfortunate that the immediate followup is apparently being renamed due to poor box office sales (that wasn’t the reason for it), as I’ve always advocated for split movies to tell a story rather than a series (see Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett) as it forces the Director and Writer to clearly articulate the plot and action in a limited time. And Dead Reckoning Part One achieved that.
First screened November 4, 2023 with special help.
