Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review: Cruise’s Last Ride Delivers, But Not Without Bumps – Review

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning offers big stunts, ties up loose ends, and gives us a long goodbye.

After nearly 30 years of audiences watching Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise hang from helicopters, hold his breath underwater for extensive periods, and, of course, sprint at full speed across various locations all over the globe, the franchise, known for its thrilling stunts and action, is seemingly coming to a conclusion with the eighth film, ‘Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning.’

Interestingly enough, The Final Reckoning is probably the least action-packed of director Christopher McQuarrie’s entries in the franchise. Instead, the film tries to tie up loose ends of the franchise to create some finality to the series at the expense of additional setpieces. Not to worry; the big action scenes we get are jaw-dropping in the way only a Mission: Impossible movie can get away with.

The Final Reckoning takes place a couple of months after the events of ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ (formerly Dead Reckoning Part One before the sequel changed its name), with Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team trying to stop the villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales) from gaining control of a powerful AI called ‘the Entity.’ The Entity is gathering information to turn the major world powers against each other, and only Ethan Hunt can stop it.

The Final Reckoning is attempting to do a lot with its plot.

On one hand, it’s striving to be a direct sequel and complete the arcs set up by Dead Reckoning, but it’s also going out of its way to tie up loose ends from previous entries. For example, have you still been wondering what on earth the “Rabbit’s Foot” is that Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s character was trying to get his hands on way back in 2006’s ‘Mission: Impossible III’? Well, this movie lets you know whether you wanted to or not. This results in some really silly and sloppy storytelling, but it also provides some fan service that I found to be really fun despite how unnecessary it may be.

The Mission: Impossible franchise has evolved over the years. Today’s fans actually care less about the storytelling and instead look ahead to what crazy, death-defying stunt Tom Cruise is going to perform next. The Final Reckoning has two major set pieces that really stick out in the final product, and they couldn’t be more opposite from one another: one takes place deep beneath the ocean, and the other is set up in the clouds.

The long sequence involving the infiltration of a crashed submarine had me on the edge of my seat for its entire duration. The climax aboard a series of biplanes was positively riveting, especially after seeing the behind-the-scenes promotional clips released over the past few months showing Cruise really hung off the side of a plane. It’s during these moments, when the wind is whipping against Cruise’s face in a way that can’t be replicated by CGI, that this entry really hits the gas.

Verdict

Ultimately, the overall product felt like it really needed one more big action set piece to give this final entry the ‘oomph’ that it deserves, which I know is asking a lot, considering it already has a 170-minute runtime. Some sloppy storytelling and tension took precedence over more action, which is only disappointing, knowing this is potentially the franchise’s end. Thankfully, the action that is here is absolutely thrilling and still manages to give the adrenaline boost that only a Mission: Impossible film can do. It still demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, just as Tom Cruise encourages.

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