May 26, 2025 · Watch the official trailer
No one goes to see a “Mission: Impossible” movie for the plot as much as Tom Cruise might want audiences to believe that Ethan Hunt’s courageous battles to save the world from terrorists matter on a grand scale.
The who’s and why’s don't really matter.
It's what Ethan Hunt and by extension, Cruise as a performer and stuntman, are doing that makes this action franchise unlike any other.
In what could possibly be his final turn in the role, Cruise continues to escape death and quite literally defy gravity as yet another international tale takes Ethan and his IMF team across the globe to prevent nuclear warfare at the hands of rogue artificial intelligence introduced in 2023's “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”
Burdened with the fate of the world against him and a ridiculous mop haircut, Cruise isn't doing anything above and beyond as an actor in the numerous expository dialogue scenes there are in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
But he still turns in the best effort of his career in the role here thanks in large part to lengthy sequences shot in utter silence aside from a majestic hard pounding score from composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey.
What Cruise is able to invoke emotionally with his physicality and piercing eye contact becomes a driving force of mesmerizing non-verbal sequences that are superfluous on its face but have a dynamic visual and emotional energy completely due to Cruise's relentless commitment to practical stunt work.
As much as viewers are questioning how Ethan is able to stay alive nearly every turn, there's still a prevalent thought on the mind of viewers as to just what risks the 62-year-old actor is taking himself in numerous stunt chase sequences, claustrophobic underwater swims and harrowing aerial stunt work on par with the ending sequence to “Mission: Impossible – Fallout.”
While the visuals and stunt work are the main reason to see “Final Reckoning,” longtime “Mission: Impossible” cast members Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg also raise the bar of their performances as it's clear the bonds that these performers have made over the course of making so many captivating films together have blurred the emotional lines between performers.
Rhames especially is able to finally showcase just how talented of a dramatic actor he can be in a film series that often reduced his Luther to tech work and being the de facto father of the group.
Hayley Atwell also returns from “Dead Reckoning Part One” as Grace and though her character is given almost nothing to do beyond being a sidekick and love interest to Ethan, the former “Captain America” star does prove to be a formidable, part of the team in action sequences.
Co-writer and director Christopher McQuarrie, who has teamed with Cruise over the past three “M:I” films to elevate the quality of the franchise to new heights, takes a really lackluster narrative and is able to propel a lengthy movie forward by forcing audiences to the edge of their seats with physically taxing, yet gorgeously shot action cinema that must be seen on the biggest screen possible.
The film features two of the most jaw dropping action stunt sequences done by the lead actor of a movie ever shot, with a technically brilliant underwater section forcing Cruise to demonstrate physicality and emotion over a 15-minute segment of “Final Reckoning” that required the entire crew to communicate via handsignals while also underwater just off camera.
Unquestionably the most dazzling display of stunt work, though, is the exhilarating aerial sequence that saw Cruise dangling off the side of a biplane while being thrown around tens of thousands of feet above the sky. The precision to execute death-defying leaps in and out of cockpits while acting in character and moving the stakes of the narrative forward is the reason why the Academy should have been recognizing the work of stunt performers years ago.In spite of its narrative flaws, “Final Reckoning” is most certainly a top three entry in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise though not quite on the same dramatic scale either the original film nor the masterpiece sixth installment, “Fallout.”
And if it is to be the end of the line for Cruise as Ethan Hunt, this eighth installment truly elevates and honors the legacy that Brian De Palma and the “Mission: Impossible” team set out 30 years ago.
Leave a Reply