[This review will self-destruct in five seconds…unless you choose to read it.]
When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, nobody goes to greater heights– or depths– to save it than IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Love him or hate him, Hunt/Cruise is a force of nature, delivering nearly three hours of frenetic and intense action that pauses just enough to drive the narrative and give the bevy of supporting characters a brief chance to shine. They include Ethan’s core team: best friend and computer genius Luther (Ving Rhames), tech specialist Benji (Simon Pegg), and thief-turned-agent Grace (Hayley Atwell). Pom Klementieff reprises her role as Paris, a foe-turned-friend who has an axe to grind with her former boss Gabriel (Esai Morales). Henry Czerny is back as the morally ambiguous CIA Director Kittridge, and Angela Bassett reprises her role as Erica Sloane. She’s been promoted to President and represents the type of leader we could only wish for right now.
Mission: Impossible plots are generally preposterous (and near-impossible to follow), but they can also be eerily rooted in reality. The final two films in the franchise, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) and this eighth and (allegedly) final installment, The Final Reckoning (aka Dead Reckoning Part Two) centers around the dangers of Artificial Intelligence gone awry, ethical and moral conundrums, power grabs, friendship, community, and sacrifice. The film picks up a few months after the events of ‘Part One.’ The President turns to Ethan to help avert nuclear armageddon. To achieve that mission, he needs to prevent the nefarious Gabriel from gaining access and control over the source code of the AI “Entity” run amok. There’s a key, a poison pill, a core module, data servers, ticking time bombs, and a bunch of other stuff in play. I’m sure it all makes sense to computer-savvy coding types. I don’t really get it– but that’s okay. I’m in it for the relationship arcs, the escapism, the locales (the film was shot in the UK, Malta, South Africa and Norway), and the pure shock and awe of 62-year-old Cruise continuing to do his own (insane) stunts. He spends a tremendous amount of time running, jumping, diving (a bit too long in a sunken Russian submarine, stripped down to his skivvies), and hanging from a biplane.
So… should you bother seeing The Final Reckoning if you don’t reckon you know anything about Ethan Hunt, the IMF, and the covert ops they’ve tackled these past 32 years? Or you just don’t like “Tom Cruise movies”? Probably not. But if you’ve dipped a toe or two (or seven) into the M:I waters and found the experience entertaining, then it’s definitely worth catching this (allegedly) “final” ride.
Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning is exclusively in theaters (where it should be seen, in IMAX for full effect). It runs two hours and 50 minutes, so factor that into your food and beverage choices!