I'll admit upfront that I tend to be wary of movies with "part" in the title; I often find they struggle to tell a complete story on their own. That thought was definitely present as I watched the first portion of the latest film in this long-running action-adventure series. Despite my reservations, director Christopher McQuarrie’s newest effort has several strengths – an interesting storyline that delivers a warning about the possible risks of artificial intelligence, expertly choreographed action scenes, some much-needed humor (something the series has frequently been missing), and a strong supporting cast, particularly Vanessa Kirby who had a disappointingly small role in the previous film. Nevertheless, there are areas where improvements could be made. The movie is simply too lengthy; at 2 hours and 43 minutes (and that’s only for the first half!), it feels padded and would benefit from some trimming, especially during the action sequences, which started to feel repetitive. Certain plot points also felt predictable, familiar, and occasionally unbelievable – particularly during the extended train sequence near the end – issues that were less noticeable in earlier installments. I was also somewhat disappointed by the performances of the IMF team, including Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames. The lead (Cruise) seemed to be primarily moving the plot forward rather than portraying a truly engaged main character, and his co-stars felt underutilized, appearing as supporting players instead of integral members of the group, unlike in previous movies. Overall, this isn’t a bad film, but it had potential to be better, especially considering it's supposed to conclude the series. It makes me question whether the complete story of "Dead Reckoning" would have been more effectively told in one longer movie instead of splitting it into two separate films. That might have addressed some of the problems I’ve mentioned and resolved that initial concern about needing a second part, allowing the film to stand alone. We'll have to wait another year to see how things turn out, but I'm not overly optimistic.

Source on TMDB