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Eight movies and almost 30 years later, the decade-spanning, action-packed, fan-favourite franchise has come to an end. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning marks Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) last mission, after continuously saving the planet since 1996. A lot of hype, anticipation, stunning love interests, applaud-worthy stunts, evil villains, and tense missions have led to this moment, so it’s expected that Cruise will see out this franchise on a high.
Does Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Deliver a Satisfying Sendoff?
Following the events of Dead Reckoning, Hunt and the IMF team continue searching for the terrifying AI known as the Entity, which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe – with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Hunt’s past on their trail. Joined by their new allies and armed with the means to shut down the Entity for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever. The Final Reckoning is a good send-off for the franchise, but unfortunately, not a great one. Despite well-choreographed action sequences, tense stunts, and a looming sense of finality that gives things a nostalgic and emotional tone, the heavy exposition and a meandering, clunky plot prevent it from hitting the high notes that a franchise finale should.
Not only is The Final Reckoning the eighth and final installment in the franchise, but it is also a very direct sequel to Dead Reckoning, which was even released as a Part 1 back in 2023. This means that we know exactly what Hunt is in for and exactly what the mission expects of him. The final moments of Dead Reckoning show a camera submerged into the water, showing that Hunt’s next task is a dangerous deep dive into the depths of the ocean to an abandoned submarine. The main issue with The Final Reckoning is that we don’t get to see this until almost the final third of the movie. The first 60 – 90 minutes are bogged down by exposition, flashbacks to prior entries into the franchise, and choppy sequences that have no flow or sense of cohesion. Character deaths and pivotal pieces of dialogue lack the weight they should hold, due to feeling rushed, and the audience not getting time to sit with them. It’s very clunky and feels the need to provide mass exposition that Part 1 should’ve been used for. The script also doesn’t trust its audience to remember the events of the prior seven flicks, spending too much of its run-time providing flashbacks and telling us who people are through unnecessary, forced dialogue. It gets off to a rough start and should’ve kicked into gear much quicker.
The performances are expectedly to be fantastic here, especially from Cruise. This is perhaps the first time in the franchise where we get a sombre, fearful Ethan Hunt, as the mission at hand is easily the team’s most difficult and dangerous yet. Hunt is certainly up to the task as saving the world and his friends has always been a priority, but you can see the uncertainty and fear in his eyes – Cruise is excellent at this. He really makes it feel like his swan song. The team is as good as ever, with enjoyable new additions in Rolf Saxon, reprising his role as William Donloe from the original Mission: Impossible, and Lucy Tulugarjuk as his wife, who lends an unexpected helping hand when the time comes. Returning talent Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Greg Tarzan Davis (Top Gun: Maverick), to name a few, are great. There are also a lot of newcomers, namely Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and Holt McCallany (Mindhunter).
The issue with a cast this large? Many miss out on a good amount of screen time. It’s easy to forget that our returning villain, Gabriel, despite being played well by Esai Morales (Master Gardener), is even there, and the likes of Nick Offerman (Civil War) alongside Waddingham are painfully underutilised. Even characters we know and love suffer from severe underwriting, with Grace (Atwell) losing much of her sass and pizazz, Luther (Rhames) lacking the screen time this character rightfully deserves, and Benji (Pegg) lacking much of his signature humour. The cast is fabulous, and it’s exciting to see such an incredible team come together, but the script doesn’t always do them justice.
As soon as The Final Reckoning kicks into gear and truly gets going, it is, of course, a marvel. The stunts may take far too long to get here, but the two big set pieces we are provided with are excellent. The long-awaited underwater sequence is tense, frightening, and incredibly claustrophobic, as Hunt travels many meters below the surface of the ocean to an abandoned submarine. With gushing water, lack of oxygen, falling rocks, and the fear of getting the bends when he reaches the surface, all at play, it is a wild, memorable ride. As the marketing has heavily suggested, we are also gifted with a fantastic plane chase that features a Cruise favourite move – hanging off it by a thread, mid-flight and mid-fight. This one has much more to offer than we’ve seen before, and the stunning cinematography paired with Cruise’s daring manoeuvres easily creates the best scene of the movie. It continues Mission: Impossible’s streak as the most well-shot action franchise in existence, and is worth seeing on the biggest screen possible for that sequence alone. Without entering spoiler territory, it also has a worthy ending that will hopefully impress fans both old and new. Good decisions regarding our characters are made, and it has enough emotional weight to it without feeling overly forced. It may take a while for the script to hit the straight and narrow, but that final hour knows exactly what it’s doing.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is most likely a very mixed bag due to how undoubtedly strong the installments that came before it are. It has very big shoes to fill, and despite only doing that in a few instances, it’s still worth a viewing. Cruise is on top form, the action sequences are unmissable, and die-hard fans will likely enjoy the nostalgia trip it provides. It’s a shame that the story is weak and takes too long to establish itself, and the writing is really not up to the standard of the previous few installments here. With better care taken of its characters, a more succinct storyline, and less exposition and flashbacks, it could’ve been truly excellent. However, what we are given is more than serviceable and bound to be enjoyed by many.
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Grade: B-
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
After escaping a calamitous train crash, Ethan realizes The Entity is stashed aboard an old Russian submarine, but a foe from his past named Gabriel is also on the trail.
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames
