Tom Cruise’s "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1" has not lived up to box office expectations the franchise has set, but the audience that has gone out to see it has responded very well. Given the lackluster performance, and the overall lack of conversation surrounding the film, would we consider the $290M budgeted film a failure? There are external factors to consider such as the competitive summer release calendar. Both Greta Gerwig’s "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" followed up the latest "Mission" with a one-two punch we may never see again in the cultural phenomenon that was “Barbenheimer.” But the film itself could also be criticized for not drumming up hype all on its own.
