Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the action film of the year

It is an unusual compliment to say of what will undoubtedly be the year’s best action film that the experience of watching it is rather like being punched in the face for the better part of three hours. But Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which arrived in UK cinemas on Monday, is a bruising, visceral and wholly exciting ride that’s about as close as you can imagine to being put in a boxing ring with its star Tom Cruise.

If the viewer is pummelled and bludgeoned into an ecstatic state of submission, then that’s the price you pay for this exceptional slice of filmmaking: a thriller that doesn’t just thrill, but exhilarates and wholly dominates its audience in the process. I’ve written before about how Cruise remains the last old-school star in Hollywood, but what makes him so fascinating to watch as an actor is the barely-concealed mania beneath the charm and charisma.