Every franchise carries some pieces that uniquely define its identity. And Mission: Impossible is no different. Over the course of six movies spanning two decades, certain elements have come to be associated with the series at large, be it the horizontal jump drop on a wire, face masks or Tom Cruise’s dangerous stunts. Among those bits is also the numerous ways in which Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt receives his next assignment. No matter how outrageous some of those delivery methods may be (looking at you Mission: Impossible II), they always have one line of dialogue embedded within them: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it“.
That last bit, is what McQuarrie went with when it came to deciding on the themes for this movie. At a fundamental level, it’s about choice and acceptance. The statement implies that Hunt always has a choice in whether or not he wants to take the next assignment and, despite the choice, he always voluntarily chooses to accept. McQuarrie takes this a step further and applies it to all characters in the movie, about how accepting their choices plays into the central themes of this two-parter.
We’ve honed in on the notions of choice and acceptance. The very mantra, ‘Should you choose to accept,’ has become a touchstone for both of these movies. And choice and acceptance are things with which the characters are constantly confronted. And how each of them deals with choice and how each of them deals with acceptance is played upon throughout the story, particularly for Ethan. Those concepts echo throughout both movies, and in ways you will not expect.
With an emphasis on these themes, no wonder the latest two entries in the series are being hailed as possibly the most emotional of the lot. As a franchise, Mission: Impossible is more known for its high-octane action sequences, but some movies in the past have come close to delivering a strong emotional core, particularly the J.J. Abrams directed Mission: Impossible III that came out in 2006. It remains to be seen if McQuarrie can top those emotional stakes with his weighty themes.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is due for release on July 12, 2023. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film sees Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny reprise their roles from previous films in the series. They are joined by series newcomers Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Charles Parnell, Rob Delaney, Indira Varma and Mark Gatiss.
