After nearly 30 years and seven previous movies, the Mission Impossible franchise is seemingly coming to a close. Tom Cruise recently claimed that he’d like to be the first 100 year old action star, but now may be the perfect time for the MI series to end before it completely self destructs.
Most of the previous Mission Impossible installments could be watched independently, as they typically only share partial casts and tropes. Yet, the previous movie, Dead Reckoning (part one) ensured that a second half would be needed. Without any real closure, it was an entertaining ride, but felt a little undercooked. Now, part two has become The Final Reckoning and is now the end for the series altogether.
The world is more threatened than it ever has been before. The Entity (AI) has created an unwinnable scenario, but of course Ethan Hunt may be the key to solving that problem. The fate of the world will be decided in three days, but Ethan and his team can help choose the course of the Earth’s destiny, though both of his decisions may end up spelling destruction.
There’s a lot that this apparent final franchise movie needs to do, and it’s clearly biting off more than it can chew. Not only does it need to provide a satisfying follow-up to the Entity story started in Dead Reckoning, but it also strives to connect several of Ethan Hunt’s previous adventures and make them tie into the real end of the world. It does both, but in messy ways.
Gabriel (Esai Morales) was set up in the previous movie as a tool of The Entity and Ethan’s rival in every way. These two have history, or so we were told, and I hoped the plot would delve into that. It doesn’t. Gabriel gets plenty of time to chew the action set pieces, but beyond that, he’s not much more than a tough obstacle for Ethan to conquer.
I love this franchise. It’s been a 30 year commitment, with only a few rough patches. I happily rewatched each movie recently (Yes, even MI2). And even with that love, I didn’t necessarily need this plot to incorporate Ethan’s previous missions. I already know that he’s been responsible for single-handedly saving the world a number of times. I didn’t need to know that it all lead to this. By adding the reasoning, the movie adds to its first hour of exposition in ways that could have been summarized in a mission statement.
Truly, I feel like we’re seeing Christopher McQuarrie’s director’s cut with this movie. At nearly three hours, we are getting every last ounce of detail. It takes its time with diplomacy and plan descriptions that make it feel more like a Tom Clancy novel. The amount of information thrown at the viewer may make non-die hard fans lose interest. That said, it’s still superbly shot and is far more watchable than most current movies being released. So, in a way, I’m not upset about the filler thrown in, it’s just a risk when it comes to entertaining general audiences.
Mission Impossible is a franchise built on the back of its stunts. The Final Reckoning does not disappoint. In the final half of the movie, there are two major stunts and climactic moments. For me, both paid off in spades. My two great fears are deep water and heights, so for over an hour, my palms were sweaty (Mom’s spaghetti) and I kept gasping or laughing to break the tension I was feeling. While it may just be a movie, the actual sets (such as the submarine) or the footage of the plane ascent felt so entirely real. I typically tune out to most movie’s third CG-enhanced climaxes. Final Reckoning knows you came to see Tom Cruise risk his life and it completely delivers. No joke, it’s almost too much stress.
While Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt is what we consider to be what Mission Impossible is about, his team has always been him worth risking the existence of the planet for. I do miss previous members of the team, but I loved having Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) there for the impactful moments. For most of this movie, Ethan is separated from his team, but their B-story keep everything grounded and provides the foundation for why Ethan does the crazy things he does.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a good movie. It’s about 40 minutes too long to be great. I loved spending time with these characters for their alleged final outing and was on the edge of my seat for the moments that the movie built up to. It doesn’t achieve the highs of Fallout, but thankfully avoids the style over substance that was MI2. By the end I was pleased with how it all played out, but wishing I was more elated. B-
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