Your mission if you choose to accept it… is to trust Ethan Hunt one last time. In a move that no one ever thought would come because Tom Cruise doesn’t seem to age or die, the Mission: Impossible franchise has concluded with their first ever two-parter that was delayed due to the actors’ strike. What ends up being delivered as the final (please stay the final and don’t make a spinoff or another entry – rebirth it if you must but leave this franchise as it was alone now) as a fitting conclusion that delivers on the fandom of eight movies, brings forth a fitting finale and gives a final note for the man whose been known to do the impossible.
With Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) along with his team of new and old members including Grace (Hayley Atwell), Luther (Ving Rhames) Benji (Simon Pegg) had to take down their most dangerous nemesis yet, Gabriel (Esai Morales) and his cohorts including Paris (Pom Klementieff) as Kittridge (Henry Czerny) and Briggs (Shea Whigham) are continuously skeptical of Hunt and his intentions and methods. While Gabriel is not a typical Mission: Impossible villain, he’s more Bond-esque as he’s working for the Entity, an AI that is hellbent on taking over the world – here enters The Final Reckoning. Dead Reckoning ended on a cliff hanger that Mission Impossible has not yet done, and The Final Reckoning focuses on taking down Gabriel and the entity once and for all as the literal fate of the world hangs in the balance, can Ethan and his team of IMF agents make the impossible possible, or is this one mission they will unfortunately fail and the reality of humanity as we know it becomes a distant memory.
With screenwriters Erik Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie finishing their tale, there is a lot of fan service throughout the movie and some of it is certainly more warranted and feels in tune than others. While there are moments that feel truly out of place and more like “hey, remember this thing,” others are a nice callback that brings everything full circle for a near thirty year old franchise. While Mission Impossible has never truly been about the scripts (though a good script always makes a better Mission, or any, movie) but about the performances, Tom Cruise running, and the performances The Final Reckoning delivers on all fronts and makes an exceptional companion piece to Dead Reckoning making them feel as one cohesive movie more than 2 halves (though they both still have their faults).
While everyone in their cast brings their all to the final Mission: Impossible movie in The Final Reckoning, there is something different about their performances, whether it’s the actors realizing this is their swan song or the way Jendresen wrote the script, there is something sombre about the performances in this final installment. It brings a new level of depth and importance to the mission, the movie, and the franchise as a whole everyone is bringing one hundred and ten percent, and it makes the most emotional entry into the franchise.
The Mission: Impossible franchise as a whole has always been about the stunts and choreography, and literally what insane thing Tom Cruise can do. The two big ‘stunt’ moments were breathtaking, adrenaline-filled moments of absolute chaos that will delight fans and give them exactly what they came for. Truly, the spectacle is off the charts with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and delivers on all cylinders. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is the perfect sendoff to the beloved franchise, while the fan service may be a little heavy handed it doesn’t exclude from the fact that the movie delivers on all fronts and can send off the franchise into the sunset with a fitting conclusion to IMF’s team leader, Ethan Hunt.
