Very much a tale of two halves - the first driven by spectacle and enjoyably whimsical performances, making up for problems with the plot. The second half is bloated, and manages to be self-indulgent despite the deeply impressive stunt work by Cruise himself. Ultimately MI:7 Part 1 suffers from the same problem that Westworld S03 never overcame - if a sentient AI is the villain how do you successfully deliver a human ally with believable motivations to ally with it? As awesome as Morales is, his script so far hasn't allowed it - his relevance to Cruise is through retcon alone, which isn't enough. Hayley Atwell however rules, and the film is worth watching for the Rome car chase alone!