Funny / Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

• A joke that was long overdue in the film series: When the topic of the IMF comes up, Director of National Security Denlinger confusingly asks Kittridge what the World Bank / International Monetary Fund (which also has "IMF" as an acronym) has got to do with the topic of a rogue super-intelligent AI, prompting Kittridge to correct him.
• Kittridge wonders how Ethan is going to escape the CIA facility... and turns around to see Ethan wearing a mask to look like Kittridge. The best part is Kittridge letting out a tired sigh "Of course..." as Ethan shoots him with a Tranquillizer Dart.
• Benji's reaction to the existence of a super-intelligent AI capable of bringing human civilization to its knees basically boils down to "it had to happen sooner or later".
• As he comes across (what he thinks is) a nuclear bomb, an exceedingly frustrated Benji complains about how they always end up in these kind of situations.
• The use of a (seeming) nuclear bomb that Benji has to defuse takes on a slight darkly humorous slant when one realizes that, given the team's last adventure with nuclear bomb disposal, the Entity presumably chose it specifically to mess with them.
  • When Benji and Luther finally tell Ethan about the bomb, Ethan asks why they would hide something like that.
    Benji: Well, you had a lot going on! We didn't want to bother you.
    Ethan: Listen to me: a nuclear bomb is something you bother me with, immediately!
  • The fact that three highly intelligent and experienced field agents need Grace to solve the simple riddle about what is always coming but never arrives (the future).
• During their escape from the embassy in Rome, Grace manages to separate herself from Ethan by shrieking out in the middle of a crowd and making an impression that Ethan was harassing her, getting a few pissed-off officials around them to hold Ethan (who's helplessly trying to plead his case) in place while Grace nonchalantly makes her escape.
• Ethan and Grace escape in the IMF Safe Car. They run towards a sports car... only for a bright yellow Fiat 500 to drive out, which they barely fit into.
  • Once they get into the car, Ethan tries to drive, but gets confused by the controls, including accidentally starting up the windshield wipers and accelerating more than he intended. As he's wasting time trying to get a hang of the thing, he awkwardly apologizes to Grace that this doesn't happen to him often while she calmly assures him that it's not a big deal.
  • The Fiat's electric motor is so powerful that it's nearly impossible to control. At one point, Grace ends up doing donuts while trying to simply turn the car and Paris can only watch in confusion.
  • During the chase they end up barrel rolling down the flight of stairs of the Trinità dei Monti (otherwise known as the Spanish Steps) and somehow, at the end of it, have switched seats. Grace's only reaction is, "Wait, what? No, no, no…"^note Amusingly, the filmmakers included a disclaimer during the end credits that the scene was filmed on a reconstructed set and no damage was done to the iconic steps themselves.
• When Grace traps Ethan in the Fiat handcuffed to the wheel while a train is coming inside the tunnel, Ethan manages to get himself loose at the last second. One gets the impression that he manages to break the lock on his handcuffs in time...until the next scene reveals that he didn't and had to rip the entire wheel off, which is dangling off his arm still chained to the handcuffs.
  • Later, while walking down the street, he notices a passing police car and tries to look natural...until he realizes there's no natural way to carry a steering wheel.
• The Running Gag of Jasper thinking certain people are Ethan in disguise, so he tries to pull on their faces believing they are masks. The last guy he does this with is none other than his own boss Kittridge, who's understandably unamused by this - and yet, since it has been established that Ethan has disguised himself as Kittridge, isn't the most illogical face to check.
• When Ethan misses his chance to get on board the train due to Gabriel's meddling, Benji finds him an alternative way to get Ethan onto the train. Said alternative is having Ethan launch his motorcycle off the top of a mountain and parachute his way down to the train, all while not falling flat into the cliffside, dragged away by the strong winds, and trying to land on a small, high-speed moving target. The sheer "This Is Gonna Suck" look on Benji's face when he realizes that Ethan is not gonna like what he's about to have him do is pure comedy gold.
  • Then when Ethan realizes what the idea is and starts railing at Benji about how suicidally impractical it is, Benji angrily retorts that he should suck it up and make it work, since he (Benji) is "Under a lot of pressure right now!" Cue a priceless "You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!" look from Ethan.
  • There's also a meta-joke here; this time Benji is the the one who comes up with the crazy plan, and Ethan has to go along with it.
• Also, as Benji is driving, he has to switch to the shotgun seat to work on his computer, so he sets his car on self-driving as he switches to another seat. Then it dawns on him that he's dealing with a Digital Abomination that has proven to be able to hack into any electronic device with ease, so he immediately puts on a seatbelt just to be sure.
• Grace is cornered on the train, held at gunpoint, about to lose the key... when Ethan smashes through the train car window with a parachute out of nowhere, taking out the two bad guys. He doesn't even seem to know what happened at first.
  • Imagine The Entity's reaction when Ethan drives a motorcycle off a mountain to parachute onto a moving train at high speed and just happens to crash through a window, into the one guy on the train who is currently an imminent threat to his ally's life, thereby launching the goon out the opposite window. Predict that, Entity.
• While on the train, after getting knocked unconscious by Grace, a weakened Alanna keeps trying to get back up... only to fall back down.
  • Alanna eventually recovers and trudges to the train car. When Zola lets out a shocked "Alanna?", she growls "Who the hell else would it be?" before collapsing unconscious in his arms.
• While Degas tries to calmly get everyone to back of the train, Briggs decides to shoot his gun into the ceiling and make it an order.
• Jasper Briggs is confused to find Kittridge on the train and asks why, with Kittridge vaguely responding "I'm not really here" and threatening to reassign Briggs to the dead mail room at the Postal Service if he doesn't mind his own business. Later, Kittridge's words are thrown back in his face when Briggs starts ordering people to the back of the train.
  Kittridge: What's going on?!
  Briggs: Since you're not really here, sir? It shouldn't concern you. (winks)
  • This scene also continues the White Widow's Butt-Monkey status for the film, as Alanna spends the entire scene in the background completely zoned out while Kittridge is trying to help her drink some water.

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