Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 Footage Reaction: Tom Cruise Races Through Rome [CinemaCon 2023]

Tom Cruise's Journey with "Mission: Impossible" began all the way back in 1996 with the first live-action movie adaptation of the classic spy series. Now, nearly 30 years later, Cruise is once again returning as Ethan Hunt to finish what he started all those years ago in the two-part (presumably epic) finale "Dead Reckoning." Part one hits theaters this summer, and the folks on the ground at CinemaCon just got a fresh look at some brand-new footage from the much-anticipated blockbuster. Fortunately, we're here to let you know what was on display for the crowd.

/Film's own Ben Pearson is at the convention in Las Vegas and is relaying his findings for us to share. Director Christopher McQuarrie is returning to direct the film, continuing his long standing partnership with Cruise. This film has been in production for so long — in no small part due to the pandemic – that audiences at CinemaCon were actually treated to footage last year as well. That's probably why the budget ballooned to nearly $300 million. Will that prove to be money well spent by the folks at Paramount Pictures? Let's see what the footage tells us, shall we?

The film's stacked ensemble cast also includes Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Rob Delaney, Cary Elwes, Indira Varma, and Mark Gatiss.

CinemaCon showcased two different packages for the film, including a new trailer that really sells this as the last mission, the ultimate mission, one that Kittrich says is going to cost Ethan dearly. We see footage of Ethan riding a motorcycle toward the edge of a cliff and jumping off, then sprinting through a corridor, and fighting on top of a moving train. "There's an 'Inception' -esque moment as the train goes off and stuff flies around and they float through space," according to Ben Pearson. Then Ethan grabs onto a train car as another one falls away just below him. Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell says "None of our lives can matter more than this mission," but Ethan says "I don't accept that."

After the trailer, the crows at CinemaCon were treated to a whopping 20 minutes of footage. Curiously, it was not the opening 20 minutes of the movie, which presumably has big spoilers, so look away unless you want to know about one of the film's upcoming chase sequences.

The footage begins with Hayley Atwell's character Grace arriving from Abu Dhabi, carrying multiple passports. She's a thief who gets captured and questioned by an official but claims to be innocent. Her lawyer arrives, but she is surprised because she doesn't have a lawyer, it is Ethan Hunt! And he's wearing small glasses and a vest!

"You did this," she says. He knows her past. He knows that she met up with a guy on a plane earlier and she passed the MacGuffin to him with plans to meet up with the target later. Ben Pearson describes the scene as "like the 'Casino Royale' train scene where Vesper pegs Bond and knows all about him."

She makes a deal with Ethan. "You get me out of here, and I'll take you straight to the key." He wants to know who hired her and the two leave together because Shea Whigham's Jasper Briggs is chasing Ethan.

Sneakily, Grace escapes by making a scene in public, stealing a cop car outside. Ethan grabs a police motorbike and goes after her. It's a goofy-looking bike with a giant siren on a pole sticking up behind him, but, of course Tom Cruise is actually riding it because he's Tom f***ing Cruise.

The two are surrounded and handcuffed together, but they manage to escape by commandeering a car. It's a little yellow car, but when Ethan puts his palm on the car, a panel drops down, like a Bond car. Except when Ethan pushes a button, it's the windshield wipers. "Give me a second," he says. He immediately takes off and slams into the wall. He's flustered. "This car, sometimes the way they set them up, it's just..." he's making excuses and it's amusing.

There's a baby that they avoid hitting so the car flips and rolls down the stairs, landing right side up with Grace in the driver's seat and Ethan in the passenger seat somehow, but they're unharmed, if confused. The car looks like a little remote control car going nuts in the street, with Ethan trying to coach Grace. They're jointly driving now, and she tells him to take the wheel. It's a metaphor for them working together! The footage ends with the two heading toward the Colosseum as they slam on the brakes. The cops are in front of them with Pom coming up fast. They pause. Ethan turns a knob on the dashboard and they start speeding away in reverse. It is clear that Paramount is saving the big, jaw-dropping moments for later, and our own Ben Pearson admits the chase looks a little too long and repetitive with the same dynamics of cops following and near misses, but "it looks cool."

"Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" hits theaters on a new date, July 12, 2023.