Movie Review: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

The Mission: Impossible franchise is my favorite movie franchise still churning out movies. I don’t think there is a single bad movie in the franchise (yes, even Mission: Impossible 2 is good), and I could argue that since 2011’s Ghost Protocol, the franchise has produced some of the greatest action films ever made.

So, needless to say, I was excited for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the latest and potentially final entry of the franchise that started as a slick spy thriller back in 1996 only to become one of the most epic franchises in cinematic history and the franchise that solidified Tom Cruise as our greatest living movie star and a certified mad man.

If Final Reckoning is indeed the last time we will see Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, the franchise goes on an epic but disappointing note due to a lackluster first half that features far too much expositional dialog (too much even for this franchise) and a mood that feels more like a funeral and less like a celebration.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning picks up following the events of Dead Reckoning. Ethan Hunt (Cruise), the IMF team, and the world are worried about the takeover of the Entity, a sentient artificial intelligence that is progressively taking over the world’s military systems to control its nuclear weapons and cause a nuclear holocaust. Only four nations still have control of their military systems: China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but the Entity is closing in fast. It is once again up to Hunt and his team to stop the Entity from global takeover while also keeping its control out of the hands of Gabriel (Esai Morales).

The plot of the film isn’t very different from other Mission: Impossible films. There is someone, or in this case something, threatening global destruction, and it’s up to Hunt and his team to go rogue against the U.S. government to stop them in the most insane ways possible. But even when the world was in danger in the previous films, the films were still fun and had a lighter tone to them. It wasn’t that they weren’t taking the end of the world seriously, but they were saving the day with witty banter, endless charisma, and jaw-dropping action sequences that featured amazing stunts sprinkled with a Buster Keaton flow.

So then why is the first half of this movie so dour? I found everything at the beginning of the film boring, sad, and lifeless, three words I never thought I’d use to describe a Mission: Impossible movie. All the conversations between characters were about the plot to end the world or about how all of Ethan’s past missions (or previous movies) have led up to this moment, and that they are all in some way connected, which was kind of stupid but also kind of fun. Some of the callbacks were cool to see, some were forced (wait until you find out who Shea Wigham’s character actually is), but it felt like director Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Erik Jendresen, forced as much previous film lore as he could here rather than flowing it seamlessly into the movie.

But when Hunt takes a deep-sea trip to a sunken submarine that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning turns into the Mission: Impossible movie I was hoping for. This stunt, which found Cruise wearing a 125-pound diving suit in a rotating water tank, calculating each one of his breaths, is a claustrophobic nightmare, as Hunt searches for the Entity’s core module inside a sunken submarine that is sliding further down the bottom of the ocean. I was not only incredibly stressed while watching this sequence, but also amazed by how beautifully it was shot. It’s a masterfully crafted sequence that came at a perfect time to bring me back into the movie.

Following the submarine dive, The Final Reckoning takes us to South Africa for a pulse-pounding finale. Here, the team tries to capture the Entity in a super-charged USB drive while Hunt chases Gabriel in an aerial pursuit via biplanes. This is an extraordinary sequence and makes you forget that the first half of the film was so boring, and reminds you why the Mission: Impossible franchise is one of the greatest action franchises ever. Seeing Cruise, who was actually on the wings of the biplanes that were going upwards of 145 mph, hanging from the planes and moving across the wings with ease, was heart-racing and as impressive a physical feat as we have ever seen from him. It was a perfect final set piece for a franchise built on incredible set pieces. And while all that is going on, the rest of the IMF team, led by Benji (Simon Pegg) and Grace (Hayley Atwell), are trying to capture the Entity, which features nearly all the humor in the film and the classic banter between characters that we’ve come to love.

Watching the second half of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was both exciting and frustrating. Exciting because it showcased what made the franchise great to begin with: epic stunts normal people couldn’t comprehend, witty banter between characters, and equal parts fun and intense. But frustrating in that the first half didn’t have any of that. While slightly disappointed with the film overall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a magnificent finale for the franchise and Tom Cruise.

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