Film Review: Tom Cruise Delivers Big Action With ‘Mission: Impossible —Dead Reckoning Part 1’

Pop culture fans have a way of building idols … and then tearing them down. Oh, how the mighty have fallen dates back to the Bible, but the expression certainly applies to 21st century Hollywood. Movie stars have mostly faded away and been replaced with IP (intellectual property). It’s not a Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac movie. It’s a Star Wars movie. It’s not a Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista movie. It’s a Marvel movie. Familiar faces, yes, but it’s the iconic characters, not the performers, who sell tickets in 2023.

But, every rule has its exception. One movie star who has not toppled from his pedestal and shattered into a million pieces of marble is Tom Cruise. His work is so consistent that pop culture critics must dredge his personal life to find something negative to say about the man (his devotion to Scientology being a favorite go-to). Last year, he set the box office on fire with Top Gun: Maverick, the highest grossing film of 2022 with $1.45 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Clearly the movie-going public wants to be entertained, and Tom Cruise is an expert at doing just that.