Nightmare Fuel / Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

aka: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One

• The crew of the Russian submarine Sevastopol didn't die in a Kursk scenario (trapped inside). Their own torpedo blew a hole in the hull, most of them were likely sucked out through said hole, and if the explosion didn't kill them already, they instantly died in the cold water, with their bodies coming back up at the surface and hitting the ice.
• The Entity, full stop. Our latest M:I villain is probably the most dangerous yet, and came completely out of nowhere one day to terrorize the world. An advanced sentient AI capable of infiltrating even the most advanced and most secured digital networks in the world in microseconds, effectively crippling all digital-based intelligence organizations and forcing all of them to revert back to using analog systems in a desperate attempt to prevent further sabotages. Its first act after going rogue is manipulating a prototype Russian submarine into destroying itself with its own torpedo, leaving its only single weakness in the depths of the sea. Its ability to process and manipulate digital information at lightning speed completely outclasses Luther and Benji's skills, and it even turns their own operational procedure against themselves, making Ethan's once-coordinated team unable to work coherently as before. It relies on its phantom field agents like Gabriel and Paris - who are both ruthless, remorseless, extremely efficient killers whose identities are erased from all digital databases in real time, practically making them invisible to all except those who knew them personally. It can anticipate any and every move Ethan and his team would make based on their personal information and past backgrounds with cold and calculating precision in such a way that even Solomon Lane could only dream of. It's so omnipotent, the main conflict of the film involves every intelligence organization and criminal group fighting to take control of it, and whoever wins will be a new undisputed world superpower who can manipulate the truth and the concepts of right and wrong at will. No wonder why Ethan's ultimate goal is to destroy it no matter what it takes, and the Entity and its agents definitely aren't gonna make it easy for him and his friends.
  • During the opening sequence, the Sevastopol detects a contact at 15000 meters, but a veteran sailor notes that the returns are far too clear for that range. Cut to a shot of the Entity's core humming along, listening to them, and the firing solution suddenly updates to 10000 meters. All the while, the Entity's avatar lurks on their screens just out of focus. Even from its earliest moments, it is an intelligent and manipulative agent.
  • Worse, it makes for perfect Nothing Is Scarier fare. In the opening expository scene in DC where we learn about it, while the characters are talking, we get numerous shots of people going through security checkpoints as the characters are describing what it can do.
  • Its most terrifying scene is when it completely overrides Luther and Benji's communications to talk as them. The deception is so flawless that Ethan doesn't realize something is off until the Entity drops the mask and threatens him directly as 'Benji.' This is the only time we hear the Entity talk.
    Ethan: Which way? Left or right?
    The Entity: It doesn't matter.
    Ethan: What do you mean it doesn't matter? Where is she?
    The Entity: She's on her way to the Minich Bridge, where Gabriel is waiting. You will never get there in time. But you can, Ilsa. I know what matters most to you, Ethan.
    Ethan: This isn't Benji.
    The Entity: No, it's not. But you are done.
  • Virtually no one but Ethan and friends see anything wrong with having the Entity as a weapon that they believe they can control.
  • And it gets even lovelier: while there's no post-credits scene, if you stay until the end of the credits, you hear the sound The Entity makes one more time. Yep, you, the person who came to the movie just to watch a movie? The Entity has been watching you as you were watching said movie. Sweet dreams, moviegoers!

---