Tom Cruise is the last true movie star. Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning might not be perfect, but once audiences wade through those opening 40 minutes of exposition, this final reckoning is worth the wait. Death-defying stunts, staggering underwater sequences, and stakes so high that only Ethan Hunt can save the day. This might feel like the end of an era, as writer-director Christopher McQuarrie throws everything but the kitchen sink into this ambitious chapter, but surely that is what cinema should be about. Taking huge swings with global consequences and trying to squeeze every ounce of tension out of a preposterous premise.
An unstoppable AI is threatening to take over every nuclear weapon silo and eradicate mankind. The likes of Angela Bassett, Nick Offerman, and the criminally underrated Janet McTeer stand around looking concerned. These high-ranking officials are out of options and forced to call in Ethan Hunt, who has one final mission, should he choose to accept. Following on from Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part I, this bloated final chapter takes liberties with an excessive runtime, before morphing into an exceptional swansong for a compelling franchise.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Audiences may come for the stunts, but honestly, this cast are so committed to selling final mission, that they will convince the most cynical cinema goer. Simon Pegg, who was the beating heart of Part I, comes through yet again to give Benji Dunn more layers, while Tom Cruise leads from the front. Elsewhere, an ensemble packed with A-list talent gets overlooked, while Ethan Hunt gets busy saving the world. However, get kicked up a notch when he gets to that aircraft carrier and draws Hannah Waddingham into the fray.
Esai Morales gives Gabriel more sinister shades, thwarting Ethan at every turn, while everything hangs in the balance. So much so, that slowly but surely audiences will find themselves investing. From sunken Russian submarines to biplane acrobatics, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning puts Hunt through the mill, pushing Tom Cruise to the limit in the pursuit of cinematic perfection. There are countless callbacks to 30 years of this franchise that feel wedged in with a shoehorn at times, but Christoper McQuarrie won an Oscar for good reason, so things never go completely off the rails.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Thankfully, when this movie really switches into high gear nothing else comes close. The Mission: Impossible franchise has given audiences a hero with dogged determination and acres of heart. However, what truly lets this film down in those first 40 minutes is any sign of that in the storytelling. It is an odd experience watching characters you normally care about offering audiences no emotional foothold. Whether by design or otherwise people die, and their passing elicits no response in the moment, getting lost among a sea of exposition that feels tedious at times.
A fact that should deter no one who has ever loved this franchise and Tom Cruise in the role of Ethan Hunt. As a movie star with the ability to open films no one else measures up, and this is all the evidence anyone needs. His identity has subtly merged with Hunt over the years, and that indestructible element is alive and well. Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning might not be equal to other instalments, but no one is more passionate about cinema than Tom Cruise, and this is a testament to that fact.
Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning is in cinemas now.