Tom Cruise has earned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes feat thanks to the new Mission: Impossible film.
The film franchise is about to release its seventh outing, with the second part due to arrive in 2024.
Reviews for Dead Reckoning Part One have been glowing, with its score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes currently sitting at 98 per cent after 171 reviews.
With the film, the Mission: Impossible franchise (which was launched in 1996 with Brian De Palma’s original) has become one of the most acclaimed of all time.
Moreover, at the time of writing, the film has scored Cruise himself his highest Rotten Tomatoes score to date.
While the first three entries have lower scores – the first has 67 per cent, the second outing, directed by John Woo in 2000, is the only “rotten” film, with 56 per cent, while JJ Abrams’ 2006 release has a slightly higher 71 per cent – it is the more recent installments that have received the most acclaim.
The fourth M: I film, Ghost Protocol, which was released in 2011, has 93 per cent, while 2015's Rogue Nation sits at 94 per cent.
Up until Wednesday (6 July), Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which was hugely acclaimed upon its release in 2018, had the highest rating, with 97 per cent. At the time of writing, however, Dead Reckoning Part One has taken its crown.
Sitting in third place in Cruise’s overall rankings is 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, with 96 per cent. For those wondering, the actor’s lowest ranked film is Cocktail (1988), which has a paltry 7 per cent.
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It’s rather rare for a long-running franchise to see so many of its films – especially the later instalments – become so critically acclaimed.
‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ is currently Tom Cruise’s highest-ranked film on Rotten Tomatoes— (Rotten Tomatoes)
The latest ranking for Dead Reckoning Part One pushes Mission: Impossible over the edge as one of the most popular franchises of all time among reviewers.
The film is set to have the biggest opening weekend for a Mission: Impossible film to date, with box office tracking predicting $90m (£70.7m)
It will face fierce box office competition in the following weeks, though, from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which will be released on the same day (21 July).
‘Mission: Impossible’s last four films have had very high Rotten Tomatoes scores— (Rotten Tomatoes)
Cruise, who turned 61 on Monday (3 July), said in a new interview with Sydney Morning Herald that he plans to see both films on opening weekend. He also shed light on his Mission: Impossible future.
The film series, which follows IMF agent Ethan Hunt, is adapted from the classic TV series, which began in 1996 and ran until 1990.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which also stars Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Vanessa Kirby, is out on 10 July.
Find The Independent’s review of the film here.
