Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning (2025 | USA | 169 minutes | Christopher McQuarrie)
Two years ago, upon the release of the first half of the finale, I asked this question: “Is there a long-running blockbuster movie franchise that is more dependably good than the Mission: Impossible films with Tom Cruise?” I answered probably not then and still believe that to be true.
Final Reckoning opens with our hero, Ethan Hunt, receiving an admonition from the President of the United States (Angela Bassett) about his disregard for the laws and norms of this country and I immediately thought, “he doesn’t obey the laws of physics or gravity, either.” That sets off one of the most absurd and implausible action sequences I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I could accurately summarize every plot twist and cross and double cross without anyone questioning my sobriety. It was awesome.
Tom Cruise is back with his usual band of merry misfits that he’s picked up over thirty years of these movies, including Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, and Pom Klementieff. They are basically all that stands between the world and a rogue behemoth determined to take over the arsenals of all nuclear powers, unless you want to count General Ron Swanson and his itchy trigger finger. Esai Morales was the villain in the first half of this finale and he’s back here, under the false impression he can manipulate Ethan Hunt for his own malevolent ambitions. Spoiler, sorry. I guess.
Much is made of Tom Cruise nearing Social Security age and still doing his own stunts. It’s impressive, of course. Really impressive. That also, though, sounds kinda like grading on a curve. It seems like each subsequent movie, the action sequences become more and more improbable and Tom Cruise keeps up marvelously.
The publicity campaign for this movie teases that Final Reckoning might not be the final reckoning, but whether or not this is Tom Cruise’s final Mission Impossible movie is immaterial to me. Final Reckoning certainly feels like a finale. There are a lot of Easter eggs to satisfy fans that reach back as far as the first MI movie, directed by Brian DePalma. As I said at the top, Mission Impossible is the most reliable action franchise we have today. It knows what viewers want: big, awesome action sequences, a charismatic protagonist, and minimal romance. It’s a formula that’s worked for thirty-plus years and I trust it to work for an additional thirty years, should we choose to accept it.
Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning is in theaters everywhere. Literally everywhere.