Ticketworthy! - Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Ending a franchise like Mission: Impossible was always going to be a challenge. After almost 30 years and now eight movies, the series feels like it’s done it all. As such, long-time fans are rightfully going to expect a final entry that understands how important these films have been to them and respects their emotional investment in the characters and world. At the same time, you still have to craft an action movie that lives up to the standard set by the previous movies. For the most part, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning succeeds admirably.

Picking up not long after the events of the last movie, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) now finds himself on the run from the government (again) while he tries to find a way to destroy the villainous Entity, a rogue AI bent on plunging the world into nuclear Armageddon. As always, he’s helped by a ragtag team of other agents, former criminals, and frankly whoever else he finds along the way. As plots go, it’s about as Mission: Impossible as they come.

Which is exactly the way it should be. The audience should walk out of the theater feeling like they just saw a quintessential Mission: Impossible movie. Cruise is great in what I’d argue is the greatest role of his career — he was born to play Ethan Hunt. The supporting cast all do good enough jobs backing him up, and the action is genuinely fantastic. Sure, the plot doesn’t always make a ton of sense and Ethan’s escapes from certain death might sometimes feel more at home in a superhero movie than a spy thriller, but it’s all very fun. It’s very Mission: Impossible.

On the subject of the supporting cast, Simon Pegg is once again fantastic as fellow agent Benji. His job is essentially to convince everyone else that what Ethan is doing isn’t completely insane and won’t result in all their deaths, and he does it well. Pegg dives all the way into the role, and without him I’m not sure the audience would ever buy some of the schemes that Ethan cooks up. I was also impressed with Pom Klementieff, returning as Paris, a former villain turned accomplice for the group. It’s not an overly complicated character, her motivation is pretty much getting revenge and little else, but Klementieff brings a lot of depth to the role and, honestly, I wish she had a slightly bigger role.

The most important part of any Mission: Impossible movie, though, is the action. Director
Christopher McQuarrie is a veteran of the franchise at this point, having directed four of the films now, and he clearly has the formula down. The fight scenes are thrilling and well shot, with great choreography and blocking, and the chases and death-defying stunts are as big as ever. In particular, there’s an aerial chase and fight sequence that would likely have seemed ridiculous in any other movie, but works brilliantly here. It’s all very competently put together and delivers exactly what one expects.

If there’s a negative to point out, it’s that the movie feels overstuffed. It’s already almost three hours long and likely needed another 45 minutes to not feel like certain parts were rushed. McQuarrie clearly wanted to get in as many callbacks and emotional notes from prior films as possible, and it does at times cause this movie to suffer. However, it’s hard to complain too much about that when you view The Final Reckoning less as its own, independent story and more as a send-off for the series. Maybe there’s a bit too much nostalgia driving the narrative, but as a fan, I can’t say that there’s a single bit of it I’d remove.

That, of course, is the point. This is a movie made by people who love Mission: Impossible for people who love Mission: Impossible. It’s a victory lap for Tom Cruise to get the adoration he’s earned, while delivering a satisfying ending to the story that so many have invested so much time in. It’s bittersweet that The Final Reckoning will be the last mission, but fans will be glad that Cruise and all the rest chose to accept it.