Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning review

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING: 

TOM CRUISE’S SUPPOSED SENDOFF TO HIS LONG-RUNNING FRANCHISE IS A GOOD TIME AT THE MOVIES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

 

            Tom Cruise (Top Gun 1 and 2, Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow) returns for (supposedly) one last mission in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth installment of the long-running Mission: Impossible film series based on the TV show of the same name. Hard to believe it’s been nearly 30 years since Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt bungeed his way onto the big screen with the 1996 Brian De Palma-directed original movie and now it’s one of the most successful action movie franchises of all time. 

            Granted, the franchise didn’t become truly great until 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (The fourth film) which revitalized the series and took it to the next level thus finding a winning formula in the process. Which brings us to The Final Reckoning once again directed by Rogue Nation-Dead Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher) which was originally conceived as Part 2 of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning with the first part coming out in 2023, but the title was changed. 

            Of course, this was going to be one of my most anticipated films of the year, I thoroughly enjoyed the Mission: Impossible movies especially Ghost Protocol-Dead Reckoning Part One and given that this may or may not be the final time I get to see Tom Cruise as Ethan on the big screen, it’s got a lot to live up to. So, what’s my verdict on Final Reckoning? I really like it though admittedly it is the weakest of the modern Mission: Impossible movies. 

            It really tries to build itself up as the last time we’ll see Ethan and his team kind of like what Furious 7 did before Fast & Furious 8-10 got made and Cruise himself did say that he would do as many Mission: Impossible movies as he could. Regardless of what the future of the franchise holds, the action is still spectacular, the tension is high, and the plot keeps your interest. 

            The film is set after the events of Dead Reckoning and follows IMF agent, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team racing to put an end to the artificial intelligence known as the Entity and its agent, Gabriel (Esai Morales-Caprica, Ozark, Titans) which has been out for a couple months now and is corrupting people’s minds and controlling nuclear systems. After Ethan gets a vision from the Entity of a coming nuclear apocalypse, he, former thief turned IMF agent Grace (Hayley Atwell-Marvel Cinematic Universe, Christopher Robin, Paddington in Peru), computer technician Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames-Pulp Fiction, Lilo & Stitch, The Wild Robot), technical field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg-Cornetto trilogy, Star Trek franchise, Paul), and French assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff-Oldboy (2013), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Killer’s Game) begin one last Mission to plant a malware device into the Entity to shut it down for good before the world ends. 

            The film also stars Henry Czerny (The Other Half, Ready or Not, Scream VI) reprising his role as Eugene Kittridge, Angela Bassett (Malcolm X, Notorious, Black Panther 1 and 2) reprising her role from Fallout as Erika Sloane, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, Jump Street, Dumb Money) as General Sidney, Hannah Waddingham (The Fall Guy, The Garfield Movie (2024), Lilo & Stitch (2025)) as Admiral Neely, Tramell Tillman (Severance) as Captain Bledsoe, Shea Whigham (True Detective, Fast & Furious franchise, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) reprising his role from Dead Reckoning as Jasper Briggs, Greg Tarzan Davis (Tales from the Hood 2, Top Gun: Maverick, Grey’s Anatomy) reprising his role from Dead Reckoning as Theo Dagas, Charles Parnell (The Venture Bros., Top Gun: Maverick, The Killer) reprising his role from Dead Reckoning as Richards, Mark Gatiss (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Favourite, The Fantastic 4: First Steps) reprising his role from Dead Reckoning as Angstrom, Rolf Saxon (Tomorrow Never Dies, Saving Private Ryan, Woman in Gold) reprising his role from the first Mission: Impossible as CIA Analyst William Donloe, Katy O’Brian (The Mandalorian, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Love Lies Bleeding) as Kodiak, and Stephen Oyoung (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Terminator: Dark Fate, Twisters) as Pills. 

            Overall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning leans a little too hard in sentimental value and nostalgia bait at times, but it’s still a spectacular action movie that ends the franchise on a strong note… if it stays that way. I like how this movie does tie a lot of loose ends and acknowledge events and characters from much earlier installments (The films from 1996-2006) like the CIA Analyst who discovers Ethan’s knife after the vault heist from the first movie returns and the Rabbit’s Foot from Mission: Impossible III is prominent in this film’s story so it definitely feels more like a celebration of the entire Mission: Impossible film series. 

            This is probably the most relevant of the Mission: Impossible movies given the rise of AI over the past few years and almost plays out like a Mission: Impossible version of a Terminator movie where the IMF has to essentially stop a super computer from causing Judgment Day with the Entity basically being like this franchise’s version of Skynet. It is relevant, but in a much more exaggerated, over-the-top way. 

            The action set pieces are amazing and worth experiencing on an IMAX screen with the two highlights being a tension-filled sequence involving Tom Cruise maneuvering through a submarine filled with water and an epic plane chase between Cruise and Morales that’s an absolute blast to watch on the big screen. Even a Mission: Impossible entry that doesn’t fully live up to its predecessors is still infinitely better than the majority of Hollywood action movies and that’s no small feat. 

            I will say, I felt the runtime a bit during this movie which I didn’t feel in Fallout or Dead Reckoning, this is a nearly 3 hour-long Mission: Impossible movie and there are a few times where the film drags a little. It’s not headache-inducing, butt-numbing Michael Bay Transformers movie dragging, but this film could have been trimmed down at certain points or refined better. 

            Despite a few shortcomings, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a fun summer action movie that gives what it promises, Tom Cruise doing his shtick at spectacular levels with a thought-provoking story woven into the over-the-top silliness you’d expect from the series. It may not be the Avengers: Endgame of Mission: Impossible, but it’s still a “Mission” worth accepting.