Without writing another thousand words about it, Dead Reckoning feels a little like it’s playing a trick on its audience, using Ilsa. By assuming she’s dead we’re exactly where it wants us to be and so is The Entity, the movie’s villainous Artificial Intelligence. Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, playing four-dimensional chess with real and actual A.I. foes, with the audience as pawns. Maybe the card really is in your pocket. Maybe the film really hasn’t gone double ladymurder. Not a fun surprise at all, but perhaps one that will change shape when part two is released. Once writers, crew, and actors are paid fairly, we’ll hopefully find out.
Contents
The Laws of Surprise
Interstitials: WGA / SAF-AFTRA strike memes
Playout: Thanks For Reaching Out by Jim Bob