In recent years, Tom Cruise has become a reliable source for incredibly well-crafted, crowd-pleasing blockbusters, but in the battle between Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Top Gun: Maverick, which comes out on top? Like most movie stars, Cruise’s popularity has hit various peaks and valleys since his breakthrough in the 1980s. Looking back on his early career, it’s surprising to note how little in the way of action movies he appeared in, outside of the original Top Gun. That changed with 1996’s Mission: Impossible, a movie adaptation of the popular ’60s spy series.
Cruise specifically designed Mission: Impossible to become a franchise he could occasionally dip back into, but it was really Mission: Impossible 2 that created the Cruise action persona audiences know best. The sequel opened with a death-defying mountain climb performed by Cruise himself, and performing ever more outrageous stunts has become his trademark. His collaborations with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie have yielded some of the most well-reviewed – and profitable – of his career, which includes 2022’s $1.4 billion grosser Top Gun: Maverick. Their follow-up Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One looks set to become another huge success, but which Tom Cruise movie is best?
Mission: Impossible 7 vs. Top Gun 2: Which Has The Better Tom Cruise Performance
Mission: Impossible and Top Gun feature Tom Cruise’s most iconic characters, IMF agent Ethan Hunt and cocky young Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Cruise never gave anything less than his full commitment to the first three Mission: Impossible movies, but it felt like the series never quite got a handle on Hunt as a character either. The suave superspy with long, flowing locks in John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2 felt disconnected from the straight-laced husband to be in J.J. Abrams’ third entry.
Brad Bird’s fourth movie – which was the first to bring McQuarrie on as a writer – is where Hunt truly began to take shape as a character. By the time he comes to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Cruise has a total handle on the IMF agent. He might be able to pull off literally impossible feats, but ultimately, his fear of losing people always pushes him to risk his life over others. Dead Reckoning Part One features a harrowing death that will no doubt shape Hunt moving forwards, as the sequel brings him face to face with his own fears.
Dead Reckoning Part One sees Cruise play the darkness and determination of Hunt, but he can also play the humor and charm, especially in his early interactions with Hayley Atwell’s thief. On the opposite end, Maverick is a character audiences wanted Cruise to revisit for decades, which finally came to pass with Top Gun: Maverick. This might just be one of Cruise’s best performances to date.
He still has a healthy disrespect for authority and cocky demeanor, but Maverick is also carrying regrets from past losses and his impending exit from the Navy. Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick is a perfect balancing act between the two, with his reunion scene with Val Kilmer’s “Iceman” being one of the most emotional of his career. Cruise does great work in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (not to mention great stunts) but his Top Gun: Maverick performance is something special.
Mission: Impossible 7 vs. Top Gun 2: Which Has Better Stunts & Action Scenes
Top Gun: Maverick features some of the most exhilarating and visceral aerial sequences ever captured on film. Director Joseph Kosinski really places viewers inside the cockpits, as Maverick trains some Top Gun graduates how to pull off a seemingly impossible bombing run on a heavily defended target. Top Gun: Maverick is structured like a heist movie in this regard, with the team going through the mission step by step before the exhilarating finale where they fly for real.
Top Gun: Maverick’s action is amazing – but Dead Reckoning Part One still has it beat. It has shootouts, car chases, foot chases, knife fights and Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle over a cliff for real. In terms of sheer variety alone, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One tops Top Gun: Maverick, but it must be stated they both are top-shelf blockbusters in this area.
Mission: Impossible 7 vs. Top Gun 2: Which Has A Better Story
Top Gun: Maverick has, in terms of design, quite a simplistic narrative. Maverick is tasked with teaching a group of recruits – including the son of his late best friend Goose – how to pull off a dangerous mission. He also has to confront his past mistakes and decide his future. The plot might be straightforward, but it’s the performances and character work that makes it so compelling. From Cruise to Jennifer Connelly’s Penny or Jon Hamm’s gruff commander, everybody is investing the story and their roles with a lot of heart and nuance.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is attempting a much trickier balancing act, including new human and A.I. villains, exploring Ethan’s past and setting up apocalyptic stakes that will continue on into Dead Reckoning Part Two. It’s also jumping around multiple locations and characters, and while some scenes get far too expository, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has a richer, most complex story than Top Gun: Maverick.
Mission: Impossible 7 vs. Top Gun 2: Which Has A Better Cast
The ensembles of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Top Gun: Maverick are both specular, making it almost tough to decide on a clear winner. Maverick has Cruise, Connelly, Miles Teller, Ed Harris, Glen Powell and many more, while Dead Reckoning Part One has the returning cast of previous entries while adding newcomers Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham and so on.
Both movies feature great performances from their ensembles, and they all keep pace with Cruise’s boundless energy. Again, Top Gun: Maverick’s stripped-back narrative really allows the performers to shine, and gives even supporting players like Charles Parnell’s “Warlock” or Lewis Pullman’s “Bob” a spotlight. On that metric alone, Maverick nudges ahead of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Why Top Gun: Maverick Is Better Than Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
This very scientific method of analyzing Tom Cruise movies concludes that Top Gun: Maverick is slightly better than Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Again, they’re both great movies and shining examples of what blockbuster cinema should be, but Maverick is a richer, funnier and more emotional experience, and pulled off the near-impossible feat of living up to and then surpassing over 30 years of hype. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is still the blockbuster to beat in 2023 though, and proves Cruise is still at the top of his game.