“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One”

(Action: 2 hours, 43 minutes)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Esai Morales

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Rated: PG-13 (Intense sequences of violence and action, some language and suggestive material.)

Movie Review: “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One” is an impressive action movie. Tom Cruise and his team provide over two and a half hours of sheer entertainment, mainly awe-inspiring stunts.

Plus, this movie’s debut is timely considering recent technology news events. This is still a mission audiences should choose to accept.

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his Impossible Mission Force team (Rhames, Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson) encounter an old enemy, Gabriel (Morales), while trying to retrieve a dangerous weapon known as the Entity. Gabriel, and numerous state agencies are also searching for the keys to this highly sought-after technology.

Time is of the essence for technology that may change the world power structure.

The greatest aspect of the “Mission Impossible” movies is they continue to have intriguing plots — and repetitive chasing and running scenes. This has been happening since this movie franchise started with “Mission Impossible” (1996, Director Brian De Palma).

The action sequences overshadow plot often to the point that a long-time character’s death barely registers before the next action moment occurs. However, the plot remains very potent because of its timely insertion of artificial intelligence technology.

Considering this movie was in production before A.I. became a major news story, the screenplay is ahead of its time. Director Christopher McQuire and co-writer keep their timely narrative energetic, brisk moments of dramatic dialogue in between lengthy action moments.

McQuire helmed the 2015 and 2018 “Mission: Impossible” prequels; he and Cruise worked together in “Jack Reacher” (2012). The director-actor duo make a good team.

The plot of this franchise’s seventh entry is good but non-stop action sequences overshadow the narrative. Incredible stunts are plentiful, many performed by the movie’s lead actor megastar Tom Cruise, who remains an impeccable Ethan Hunt. The action scenes are worth seeing on big screens.

Of course, this is only part one of a two-part cumulation. The second part’s expected release is next summer. “Dead Reckoning, Part One” ends with a cliffhanger. If the next installment is as engrossing as this one, the wait will be worth it.

Grade: B (Reckon it is good.)

Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas

“They Cloned Tyrone”

(Comedy/Science Fiction: 2 hours, 02 minutes)

Starring: John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris and Kiefer Sutherland

Director: Juel Taylor

Rated: R (Pervasive language, violence, sexual material and drug use)

Movie Review: Rather than someone calling Tyrone as per the 1997 famous song “Tyrone” by Erykah Badu, someone has cloned Tyrone in this intriguingly weird comedy.

Director Juel Taylor turns this science-fictional comedy into a modern-day blaxploitation movie that surprises with its multiple mysteries. It is this decade’s “Get Out” (2017) with social commentary included.

John Boyega of “Star Wars” fame plays Fontaine, an urban drug dealer. One evening, a rival shoots Fontaine several times. The next morning, Fontaine wakes up in his bedroom the next morning in good health and has unexpected experiences throughout the day.

Soon, he is working with chic pimp Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx, who played the legendary Ray Charles in “Ray,” 2004) and sex worker Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris of “Candyman,” 2021). They become detectives trying to find out what is happening in their city.

Stop reading if you have heard this one. A drug dealer, a pimp and prostitute become mystery solvers like Nancy Drew.

You probably have not heard such a gathering, even in a joke. “They Cloned Tyrone” is bizarre but a very creative comedy with stars that allow us to join in their fun. Boyega, Foxx and Parris appear to enjoy their roles as much as they are enjoyable to watch.

Taylor’s (“Actors Anonymous,” 2017) movie is a surreal comedy with science-fiction and mystery combinations. It is absurdist humor where it deliberately violates rational thinking. It mashes together illogical concepts dealing with time, conformity and characterizations. Examples are “Being John Malkovich” (1999), “Planet Terror” (2007), “Birdman” (2014) and last year’s Oscar-recipient “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

“They Cloned Tyrone” is a mixture of elements to create comedy. Certain aspects of the movie appear straight out of a 1970s “Super Fly” while characters have modern inventions such as cellular phones. It is also a movie about urban stereotypes, race relations and government conspiracies.

Taylor and fellow writer Tony Rettenmaier (“Shooting Stars,” 2023) create a movie that is all over the place but their material has an exacting purpose. “They Cloned Tyrone” is an adventure of humor. The screenplay is creative and its cast appears to have fun portraying their roles. Audiences should have just as much fun watching them, if one keeps an open mind.

Grade: B (Go ahead. Call Tyrone and tell him his movie is good.)

Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas

“The Miracle Club” (Drama: 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Starring: Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Laura Linney and Agnes O’Casey

Director: Thaddeus O’Sullivan

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic elements and some language)

Movie Review: “The Miracle Club” ends as expected but a talented cast shines and gives it a beautiful appeal. Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney shine as women in a comfort movie.

Lily Fox (Smith), Eileen Dunne (Bates) and Dolly Hennessy (O’Casey) are three generations of married women in Ballygar, a community in Dublin, Ireland.

Enter Chrissie Ahearn (Linney). She arrives after being away from home in New York for nearly 40 years and her return home is an unwelcome one for Lily and Eillen who feel Chrissie abandoned her now deceased mother. The four women and Dolly’s son, Daniel (Eric D. Smith), who unexplainably does not speak, travel to Lourdes, France, expecting a miracle for the boy.

Baths in the healing waters of the sacred site where Mary, mother of Jesus, once appeared are just what these women need. The Catholic women’s pilgrimage to the site is a restorative venture of friendship, forgiveness and love.

Award-winning actresses Smith, Bates and Linney keep this movie afloat. Their performances enliven this formulaic screenplay. They make it a quaint movie about relationships.

Thaddeus O’Sullivan (“Into the Storm,” 2009) allows for dialogue. The characters speak to each other about important matters. Through communication, old scars become healed and friendly bonds are reestablished.

Some Irish accents are difficult to understand at moments, but this talented cast delivers. The actors elevate this otherwise moderate drama.

Grade: B (The miracle is it is a decent, ultimately inspiring movie.)