Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (Part One)

As the title suggests, the ending is really the beginning in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, the latest over-the-top installment in the venerable espionage franchise.

Once again emphasizing spectacle over substance, this convoluted sequel — the seventh entry since 1996 — is another showcase for some dazzling set pieces, which has become the series’ calling card.

However, this elaborate adventure struggles to raise the sociopolitical stakes as intended while blending Cold War intrigue with a high-tech cautionary tale, falling short on genuine suspense.

After a tense opening sequence set aboard a doomed Russian submarine, the globetrotting story finds top-secret government operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) accepting an assignment to locate a two-piece brass key that might stop a rogue A.I. “entity” with the power to manipulate and eventually destroy humankind. But nobody knows for sure.

Ethan teams up with loyal sidekicks Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames), who sums up the task nicely: “The fate of the world depends on finding whatever it unlocks.”

The first step is tracking down and forming an alliance with a petty thief (Hayley Atwell) who’s believed to possess at least one half of the key. But others have the same intel, most notably a terrorist (Esai Morales) and an enigmatic arms dealer (Vanessa Kirby) who are hot on their heels.

Uncertain who he can trust, Ethan must navigate a maze of shifting loyalties and cloudy motives, alluring women and suspicious bureaucrats. Plus, he becomes morally conflicted while forced to confront his past.

As debonair as ever, Cruise generates sympathy and emotional depth with his usual magnetic charisma. The vague nature of the mission is both compelling and frustrating as the traditional line between heroes and villains is blurred and the endgame for all parties is uncertain. It’s boils down to a battle of wits and resilience for power and control.

Meanwhile, returning director Christopher McQuarrie employs sweeping camera movements, daredevil stunt work, exotic backdrops, and effects-driven flourishes to provide plenty of thrills for those willing to set their brains to autopilot.

Highlights include an extended car chase through the crowded streets of Rome and a breathtaking climactic white-knuckle showdown aboard a train.

Still, there’s not much beneath the slick surface of a screenplay that doesn’t withstand logical scrutiny. With every harrowing twist, Ethan’s invincibility is never in doubt, and neither is that of a franchise that pauses on a cop-out cliffhanger.

Rated PG-13, 163 minutes.