Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the last chapter in a story about giving one’s all to save and protect loved ones. Following the events of Dead Reckoning, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Grace (Hayley Atwell) pursue the villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales). Gabriel seeks to control the Entity, a powerful AI capable of wiping out humanity. To prevent this, Ethan calls upon long-term allies Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg). Together they round the globe in an attempt to stop the Entity from beginning global nuclear devastation.
What works in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning are the incredible stunts and tremendous effort from the cast. Director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible Fallout) crafts two particularly impressive sequences that will have audiences gasping for air. The first involves a breached submarine tumbling around the ocean floor as Ethan attempts to infiltrate its inner sanctum. Later, Ethan engages in a high speed bi-plane chase with some jaw-dropping acrobatics. When Ethan isn’t out risking his life, the rest of the performers do fine work contextualizing the stakes. Tramell Tillman (a breakout star of Severance) is particularly memorable as a submarine captain with a charismatic penchant for taking risks. The Final Reckoning’s ensemble, including old and new faces, help ground the film through their emotional reactions to the peril.
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People who enjoy a bit of levity in their spy adventure films may not shine to Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning as much as others. The previous entries in the franchise had two key features that this 8th film is in short supply of: fun and teamwork. McQuarrie and Cruise clearly had a desire to end on an epic high note. Given how many times Ethan has saved the world, it’s understandably difficult finding a way to make the danger feel bigger and grander. And in trying to accomplish this, The Final Reckoning feels too heavy on the drama at the expense of joy. Furthermore, as Cruise has stated he’d like to have this be his last Mission: Impossible movie, the focus is squarely on him. While typically Ethan works with his team of specialists in tandem, here he’s more often a solo act. As such, the playful banter that often comes during those moments is lessened considerably.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning feels like the culmination of a series that got too big and unwieldy. While everyone involved clearly has respect for the franchise’s impressive run, at times it seems the creative team struggled with how to bring closure. The stunts are fantastic, but there’s a little less heart.
Recommended if you enjoyed: Fast X, Hobbs & Shaw
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is available exclusively in theaters beginning on May 23rd, 2025
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