Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), running. It’s an indelible sight in modern action cinema, and one that has taken place with various beautiful locations around the world in the background. Mission: Impossible– The Final Reckoning offers one last example of that sight. (This time past Parliament in London.) This film is not the best of the series, but it is a decent (presumably) final entry in the spy saga.
The first Mission: Impossible movie premiered almost 30 years ago. Based on the successful television series from the 1960s and ‘70s, Ethan dove right into globe-trotting adventures to save the world. His team sometimes changed. His dedication never did, not over 8 films and almost 3 decades. 2023’s Dead Reckoning set the wheels of Ethan’s latest mission in motion. An AI computer program went rogue (because of course it did) and became the Entity. It threatened to take over all digital life on Earth. It used Gabriel (Esai Morales), someone Ethan has a history with, as its human counterpart. Dead Reckoning thrillingly detailed Ethan’s efforts to obtain the key to access the Entity’s source of power. This film is about destroying the AI threat for good before it causes a nuclear war.
There is some room for improvement in Mission: Impossible– The Final Reckoning but the action is spectacular. It also feels very much like a finale, like a send-off, to the character of Ethan Hunt and this film franchise. And the film gets better as it goes along.
MORE: Do you need a refresher on what happened in the last Mission: Impossible film? We’ve got you covered with our review of Dead Reckoning!
“You’re the only one I trust to save it.”
The tone of an ending is there from the start of this film. President Sloane (Angela Bassett) sends Ethan a message asking him to bring in the key to the Entity, and as she speaks, scenes from all of Ethan’s previous adventures illustrate her words. A recap certainly screams “finale” to me. It’s a kick to see a VHS tape in this moment, too. They have to communicate in analog ways to avoid the Entity, and it adds to the throwback feel.
There are timely details here, too, however. The Entity has infected cyberspace and gained followers, and the brainwashed supporters definitely sound like people we all know. Some of the other dialogue and plot points are a problem. Ethan’s teammate, Luther (Ving Rhames), left to work off the grid in the middle of Dead Reckoning. We know he will come up with some brilliant computing solution to the Entity, and he does, but he is suddenly also sick and possibly dying. From what, and how did it happen so quickly?
Besides that, certain things feel undeveloped. Ethan’s past with Gabriel, in which he killed a woman Ethan loved, is never fleshed out. These films are already long enough, I know, but it is noticeable. That’s in addition to Gabriel being an undercooked villain himself. There are great actors added in small roles here who I wish had more to do. Especially Hannah Waddingham as an Admiral on an aircraft carrier that Ethan hitches a ride on.
MORE: Read on to find out what other critics are saying about Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning!
“Our lives are not defined by any one action.”
The audience can always count on the action sequences in a Mission: Impossible to be impressive. This is due to two things: the directors’ talent and Cruise doing his own stunts. Final Reckoning is at its best in these moments. The scene where Ethan dives to the sunken Russian sub to retrieve the computer drive is unbearably tense. The sub is rolling along the sea floor and nearly off an underwater cliff, while Ethan tumbles around beside torpedoes. And Ethan still has to get back to the icy surface in an almost physically impossible way! And his team still has to cut him out of the ice after that!
That biplane stunt from the trailers is even bigger. The helicopter sequence from Fallout is still the best in this series, and Cruise has even hung onto the outside of a jet (in 2015’s Rogue Nation), but this scene packs a punch, too. The chase and fight here are well-choreographed, and the end is another memorable moment of tension. The strong editing increases all this intensity. Ethan’s physical courage playing out alongside Benji (Simon Pegg) and Grace’s (Hayley Atwell) struggles to trap the Entity on a new optical drive designed by Luther really works.
Another reason this movie feels like a true ending is the callbacks to the first film in the franchise. I won’t spoil all the fun with this, but I will say that not all of them are expected. Kittridge (Henry Czerny) isn’t the only returning face. All this emphasizes the cyclical nature of the plot, like we’re coming to the end of Ethan’s story by revisiting the beginning. But it doesn’t have to be the end of the Impossible Mission Force. Mission: Impossible– The Final Reckoning is pretty good as the end of one agent’s incredible career. Grace, Benji, and the rest could take over the mission, should they choose to accept it.
Mission: Impossible– The Final Reckoning is now in theaters from Paramount Pictures.
MORE: If you want to know more about the ending of Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning, read on!
