Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning Review
Here’s my Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning Review which stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and more. The film is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and from UIP Movies and Paramount Pictures.
Tom Cruise returns for another serving of spy hijinks and insane stunts with Mission Impossible Final Reckoning together with his new crew as they continue to take down “The Entity”. But the biggest question here going into this almost 3-hour long film is whether or not this will be Agent Hunt’s last adventure or not?
The stakes are once again with Ethan Hunt once again tasked to save the world with a little bit more personal interest in it. The Entity from the previous film has taken steps to destroy the world and it’s only Hunt and his team that can pull off the impossible and make it possible. There’s also the threat of Gabriel, the last film’s main antagonist plus the initial wanted status they set up for Ethan and his team. So its pretty much him against the world.
You’ll be on the edge of your seat for this film especially in those big set pieces like that whole segment in the Russian submarine or that bi-plane aerial chase that’s both thrilling and exhilarating. That however is also the biggest hindrance from making me go all out with The Final Reckoning. It was pretty obvious that these two scenes took up most of the budget which was also the reason why it felt like there was something missing; and that was the number of big set pieces. Just wish they had more stunts aside from these two.
I also wasn’t expecting to shed a tear too by the end of the film with such a precious piece from Ving Rhames’ character Luther addressed to Cruise’s Hunt. And while it makes perfect sense in context of the story, if you take it apart, it’s as equally inspiring and endearing. That was something new here. Or maybe they already do that with other past films but this one’s more impactful to me.
A few of my gripes for the film has shown how much it’s become formulaic after so many installments. Like at this point I already know when Cruise would start running, I know that there will always be a big thrilling stunt involving Cruise while his team deals with the other problems particularly Simon Pegg’s Benjie always doing the critical stuff. At this point I also already know that Cruise would pull off a last minute “hail Mary” to save the day. He’s already done that in “Fallout” and even earlier in “Ghost Protocol”.
It’s also a little vexing for me that they were marketing this as the “Final Reckoning” which may be the beginning of a new team and setting up a new guy to replace the 60+ year old Cruise but it wasn’t so. Instead, the “Final Reckoning” was in reference to wrapping up all the loose ends from the past film as well as some old stuff dating back as the first Mission Impossible film decades ago. That was a deep cut too but that was fine for me.
While I am a fan of Hayley Atwell, her character here as Grace just isn’t working for me. It also feels like she was shoehorned to fit a certain niche or a certain visual when we already have that with Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust. She felt more capable and on the same level as Ethan in terms of combat prowess but then we have Grace who really doesn’t have much.
I did enjoy Benjie’s arc here because he’s grown to become a capable leader while Ethan is away.
Overall, I felt that “The Final Reckoning” was a good film for thrills and spills but it’s a bit lacking even when following the formula that made the past films winners. Still a good popcorn experience and you’ll definitely want to see the action set pieces on an IMAX screen.
7.5/10
VINNI’S REVIEW
“We live and die in the shadows for those we hold close and those we never meet.” The IMF oath that became the central theme of the film. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is that eigth and possibly the last installment in the Mission: Impossible film series eversince Tom Cruise acquired the rights as producer in the 1990’s. It’s a direct continuation of Dead Reckoning which follows Ethan Hunt and his team’s quest to destroy the sentient digital parasite AI known as The Entity which now has been manipulating media to cause conflicts around the world.
This takes him from his base of operations in London, to the Arctic, and into the finale in South Africa. The film includes clips as refreshers and flashbacks to past M:I films to catch anyone up to speed. The plot is pretty thin, but it is packed with callbacks, retcons, and easter eggs to previous M:I entries. Tom Cruise brings it his most physically demanding role yet at 61 as he swims in great depths and dangles in the sky in Ethan Hunt’s own Herculean quest to take down The Entity.
But despite all that, his support team comprised of Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Ving Rhames still deliver the emotional moments that drives the heart of the film. The final act in South Africa perfectly blended spectacle and suspense as it was edited to keep you at the edge of your seat on all fronts for the film’s final hour. Eversince Tom Cruise “saved cinema” by putting his foot on the ground and refusing Top Gun: Maverick a pandemic era digital release, thus triggering the post-pandemic’s first big box office opening weekend, he has been making films as love letters to cinema. Wanting audiences to truly experience spectacles in the big screen “the way it’s meant to be” as he loves to remind audiences of that.
Overall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is definitely a rewarding experience to watch in the cinema. Not just a reward for following the franchise for the last 29 years, but also as a reward for going out to hit the big screen in an age when streaming services offer convience.
I’m rating this a 9/10, Mission Accomplished! Thank you to Paramount Pictures PH and SM Cinema for last Thursday’s premiere screening.
