After “Ghost Protocol”, “Rogue Nation” and “Fallout”, it’s time for “Dead Reckoning”, title of the seventh episode of the “Mission: Impossible” saga. But what does it mean exactly?
First there was Mission: Impossible, period. Then 2, then 3, before the franchise got subtitles with Ghost Protocol. Rogue Nation and Fallout followed, and now give way to Dead Reckoning. We can see the presence of death there, the one that has always accompanied Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), but not only.
Quoted in the opening scene of the film, expected in theaters on July 12 but screened in preview on the 9th, “Dead Reckoning” is actually a navigational term. And it translates to “dead reckoning” : “This means you choose to follow a path based only on your last known position”director Christopher McQuarrie explained to Empire last November.
“And that becomes a metaphor, both for Ethan and for certain characters. (…) Several things from the past [du héros] will resurface.” Like Eugene Kittridge.
Superior to Ethan in the first Mission: Impossible, the character played by Henry Czerny makes his return. And we see it in particular in a scene that echoes Brian De Palma’s film, when he faces the hero of the franchise.
Paramount Pictures France Henry Czerny
This “dead reckoning” also involves villain Gabriel (Esai Morales), from Ethan’s past who, for some reason we won’t spoil, seems to be one step ahead of the IMF star. And even, in a metatextual momentum, the saga and its main actor, who must try to thwart the expectations of the public, born from previous episodes.
This a priori mysterious title will also be that of the second part expected on June 26, 2024. And it makes sense when you look at it more closely.