Lorne Balfe’s endlessly thunderous score for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One makes for an entertaining listen at times but is mostly just a lengthier, duller extension of Fallout, with imposing bongos and an ever-repeating three note variation on the main theme doing an excellent job of blending many of the album’s tracks into one another, so very little stands out.

The first minute of opening track “The Sevastapol” does a pretty solid job of setting the tonal scene for the two hour album to come. In the first few seconds, not only does the bongo-heavy frenetic style of Balfe’s Mission: Impossible: Fallout work reprise but Lalo Schifrin’s iconic original theme as well, making for a decidedly emphatic opening minute to the soundtrack as the music then inevitably builds to an almost deafeningly dramatic crescendo. There is a little difference this time around however, as the music also now has a slightly darker edge to it – at least compared to Balfe’s Mission Impossible: Fallout score – with the centrepiece of this tonal change being a new and rather eerie three note motif that echoes ominously inbetween the iconic Impossible notes here. This new theme – presumably for the villainous AI of the film simply called “The Entity” – then takes centre stage after bongos and Schrifin crescendo out, with tense electronics and rather mysterious-sounding strings playing moodily for the remainder of the two minute opening track. Overall it’s perhaps an unusual start to the latest of the traditionally action-centric Mission: Impossible scores, but a rather intriguing one nonetheless.

The ghostly Entity motif plays a central part in “A Ghost In The Machine”; here the eerie electronics from the opening cue reprise in a similarly sinister tone, with the pace remaining slow and ominous for much of the track’s three minute runtime as a result. More orchestral elements do start to appear towards the end of the piece though, with three repeating notes from Schifrin’s main Mission: Impossible theme echoing dramatically through on brass as the track closes out. “Dead Reckoning Opening Titles” then happily takes these thematic hints and runs with them, as Balfe’s bongos also return for a thunderously grandiose and indeed full rendition of Schifrin’s main theme to open the score proper. Being a main title playthrough it sadly only lasts for a minute, but it’s a decidedly enjoyable appearance from the motif nonetheless. From here though the theme then disappears for a bit, as subsequent cue “The Entity” plunges the score back into the dark and moody espionage-esque tone of prior tracks, with the new Entity motif naturally taking centre stage throughout on its creepy electronics. Solemn strings then take over in the first half of the “The Mission”, with further instrumentation then slowly fading into the fray to drive this newly sorrowful mood home in the back half.

Bursts of bombastic brass shift a frenetic pace into gear in “This Is Not A Drill”; the score’s first action piece. Brief reprisals of both Schifrin’s main (in its repeating three note structure) and “The Plot” themes occur throughout this two minute track, with Balfe’s new Entity motif also raising its malevolent head every so often. The eight minute “The Plot Thickens” then utilises the aforementioned Plot motif quite extensively, building tension on low-pitched, ominous brass notes and quietly frenetic strings for much of its lengthy runtime with the occasional worried hint toward the main theme sounding through. The tension then continues in “Get Out Now”, with the full orchestra – complete with bongos – building in both volume and intensity with three repeating notes of the Mission: Impossible theme held emphatically high until a thunderous finishing crescendo is reached. “Rush Hour In Rome” then kicks off a short series of action setpieces, with the first here thundering the main theme through on loudly dramatic brass and frenetic bongos. The subsequent “Roman Getaway”, “You’re Driving” and “Hit It” then continue in much a similar vein with tense, fast-paced orchestra and segments of the main and Plot motifs centre stage, making for a pretty solidly entertaining minutes of action overall (though it does have to be said, not quite as high-hitting as “Stairs And Rooftops” from Balfe’s Fallout score).

The moody “He Calls Himself Gabriel” reprises the Entity motif in now typically foreboding form on slow, ominous strings and electronics, with the theme then appearing in louder, more malevolent style in later action setpiece “Run As Far As You Can” alongside tense percussion and bursts of imposing brass. “Chasing Grace” then evokes the style of earlier cue “Get Out Now” starting quietly but at a rapid pace, with sporadic repeating notes from the main Mission: Impossible theme sounding through on increasingly worrisome brass. As the three minute track continues the intensity and volume of the music then gets bigger and bolder, with Balfe’s bongos too building alongside until a near-deafeningly dramatic crescendo is reached just as the track closes out. Schifrin’s “The Plot” motif then re-injects a bit of hope into the score in the first minute or so of “To Be A Ghost”, though this doesn’t last for long as the track then quickly crescendos into tension. “Murder And The Orient Express” then continues in much a similar action vein as the earlier “Rush Hour In Rome” series, with enthusiastic bongos held high alongside the occasional heavy brass burst from Schifrin’s main theme. The eerie Entity motif then plays alongside tense strings in the subsequent “Mask Of Lies” and again in “I Missed The Train”, with the latter track’s rendition in particular evoking a sense of dread alongside some high-pitched and rather horror-like strings.

The short “Leap Of Faith” opens with a brief burst of thunderous brass to grab your attention, before the full orchestra then leaps into the fray with repeating notes from Schifrin’s main theme held high until a deafening crescendo is reached. The action then continues in “You Stop The Train”, as loudly malevolent brass and increasingly violent strings occupy much of its runtime with frenetic fragments of the main theme reprising toward the end. With the finale of the album now fast approaching frantic bongos take centre stage at the start of “Chaos On The Line”, with loudly imposing brass taking over toward the end. “Countdown” then reprises the repeating three-note variation on the main theme as well as “The Plot” motif, with an increasingly worrisome-sounding orchestra building throughout until crashing out on crescendo just as the track ends. Solemn, downtrodden strings then shatter the action in “This Was The Plan”, with the three note variation of the main theme playing in quietly sorrowful fashion alongside the ominous Entity motif. Final track “Curtain Call” then does exactly what it says on the tin really, with the thunderous bongos reprising one last time as the full Mission: Impossible theme plays in spectacularly emphatic – though only for a minute again sadly – fashion to close out the album.

Overall, Lorne Balfe’s endlessly dramatic score for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is entertaining in part, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little bored with it by the end. The reason? Lack of variation. It’s a two hour soundtrack album, and the music here is all largely the same – bongos playing in loudly emphatic style, with three notes from Lalo Schifrin’s Mission: Impossible theme repeating in an increasingly thunderous cycle until a deafening crescendo closes the music out. Don’t get me wrong, this style does make for some rather fun action score at times, but when it’s just kind of the same thing for most of the album it does get a little dry after a while. Even the score for Fallout had some variation – look at the ever-enthusiastic action setpiece “Stairs & Rooftops” for example, or the happily relieved “The Last Resort” – but with Dead Reckoning Part One here all the tracks just kind of blend into one another, so nothing really stands out (I certainly struggled to pick out some Standout Cues). Now it isn’t all bad, there are some sparks of intrigue here and there – such as the creepy new motif for the Entity, the emphatic crescendo build-ups in “Get Out Now” and “Chasing Grace” and of course where the Mission: Impossible theme reprises in full – over Balfe’s overused three-note shortening anyway – but all-in, I do sadly find this one just a bit dull. It might work well in the film itself, but on album, for me – not so much.

Just a blander, lengthier continuation of Fallout‘s score, really.

Score: 5.5/10

Standout Cues: 6. Dead Reckoning Opening Titles/17. Hit It

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