Tom Cruise is back to thrill us with death-defying stunts and a buffet of action and gunplay in "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning part 1". 

Written by Erik Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie, and directed by McQuarrie, this is the seventh in the revived series based on the 1960's television series created by Bruce Geller.       

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission -- not even the lives of those he cares about most. 

Trailer courtesy of Paramount Pictures 

Modern action films have been competing for eyes in the wake of the fantastically made "John Wick" series. Although this film has name recognition and star-power, it too seems to have transformed into an even more non-stop action cat and mouse chase.

That's the gist I get from it anyway. It's well done and has a fantastic cast, which includes Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and a couple familiar faces to Marvel movie fans, Hayley Atwell, who played Agent Peggy Carter in "Captain America: The First Avenger", and Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis in the hit "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.

The film touches on current societal fears of a rogue A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), taking down governments and taking away individual privacy. An enemy with no morals or emotions, and who we can't see, but can be everywhere at once through our communications networks.

The plot is almost that of a "Twilight Zone" episode and even shares aspects of "The Matrix" or "Terminator", but with a more grounded approach.

The plot is as straightforward as they come but is executed to the best it could be.

The group, IMF, led by Ethan Hunt (Cruise) must find two halves of a key that will control or destroy the source of the untamed A.I. entity wreaking quiet havoc across the world.

We learn that the A.I. entity mimics people's voices and spreads misinformation as well as sets various characters on their paths through deceptive tactics.

The bad guy, Gabriel (Esai Morales), is working on the side of the A.I. He always seems to be one-step ahead of the IMF, until his luck runs out.

The film ends in a cliffhanger for "Dead Reckoning Part 2", and it's a great cliffhanger to be sure. The good guys outwit the baddie at the last second and a fun character thought to be dead might return.

If you love the previous "Mission: Impossible" films, you'll love this one. If you love a well-done action film with a spectacle every few minutes, this is for you.

The two hour and 43-minute runtime flies by with engaging scenes and well-paced action sequences.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• Cary Elwes.
• Amazing train-top chase sequence with practical stunt work.
• Amazing car chase filled with the perfect amount of comedy.
• Simon Pegg always balances his serious acting with his naturally comedic personality.
• Hayley Atwell fits into the mix as if she's been there for years.
• Pom Klementieff kicks butt as an almost comic-book-like assassin here with sword play and martial arts to go with a fun make-up look.
• Tom Cruise continues his modern-day "man of few words" action hero archetype and does it well.

Your mission, should you accept it, is to see "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning part 1" in theaters for a fun summer thrill ride.