In 1996, a man named Ethan Hunt is seen dangling from a single wire into a vault, stealing a singular disc that is essential for his mission. All of a sudden, his associate in the vents above sees a rat, leading him to drop the wire for a brief second before catching it. Down below, Ethan falls just inches from touching the pressure plates beneath him with a single drop of sweat running down his face. With everything seeming to be going wrong, the mission seemed to be nearly impossible to accomplish.
Thankfully, Ethan and his team were able to pull it off, and continued to do so for seven more movies and 29 years. In 2025, Ethan Hunt goes on possibly his most dangerous mission yet: hanging from the wings of a biplane as it spins in the air during “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to compromise and destroy a world-threatening A.I. known as The Entity. The dangerous technology is located deep beneath the arctic waters of a submarine wreckage, where a specific key needed to unlock the vault is kept in.
What is marketed as possibly the final film in the franchise, is the fourth entry from director Christopher McQuarrie, who previously directed “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.” Much like the previous films in the franchise, McQuarrie excels at creating high-intensity sequences that are sure to leave audiences on the edge of their seats. Whether it’s showcasing Tom Cruise hanging from a helicopter in Rogue Nation, or doing a motorcycle jump off of a cliff in Dead Reckoning, McQuarrie never fails to go all out and film the sequences with wide shots and long takes.
In the most recent entry, the same filming techniques continue to be effective. In particular, a 20 minute long submarine sequence takes place in which Tom Cruise is seen diving deep into the flooded vessel, dodging obstacles along the way. Throughout the scene, everything is shot to look massive in scope and size, and to make the viewers feel the tension in each scene. Continuing his hot streak directing entertaining movies in the franchise, the film solidifies that McQuarrie did not skip a beat throughout his time with “Mission: Impossible.”
Adding to that, the driving factor of the high-intensity sequences is Tom Cruise, and his ability to pull off wild and crazy stunts most actors would never dare to attempt. In fact, the film provides Cruise’s most dangerous stunt yet in the heavily marketed airplane sequence. Here, he hangs out of the cockpit and wings of an actual plane as it’s going upside down– a scene not done practically in most other action movies. Whenever it comes down to action, Tom Cruise never fails to entertain, and this film was no exception.
At the end of the day, when the film needs to have thrilling action sequences, it absolutely delivers on those aspects.
Even though the film gets its specific moments so right, it can be difficult to overlook some major issues on a story level. In particular, the first hour of the film is extremely exposition heavy with little to no action in any of it. Although the film does function as a part two to “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” it becomes so convoluted as the bridge between films is set in motion. The previous film concludes with Hunt and his team retrieving a set of keys to unlock control to The Entity, however, the film’s runtime takes too long for the plotline to take full effect.
On just a story level, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” might be the messiest film of the entire franchise. From the excessive amount of dialogue to the never ending flashbacks of previous films, the first hour of the film never feels as if the plot will never find its footing. Fortunately, the film eventually pulls all of its plotlines together to form a coherent story with tons of action and suspense. Despite a slow and, at times, boring start, the rest of the movie lives up to the hype of possibly the greatest action franchise of all time.
While the story at its core may be flawed, and definitely consists of issues throughout the runtime, the film’s back half makes up for it and brings the franchise to a satisfying close, for now. While by no means the best film of the franchise, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” proves that the series still knows how to entertain moviegoers.
