SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team race against time to find the Entity, a rogue artificial intelligence that can destroy mankind.

It’s finally here. The seemingly final ‘Mission: Impossible’ installment. Ethan Hunt and the IMF have reteamed once again to prevent the destruction of the world… but this time every one is on their toes. The villain Gabriel, played by Esai Morales, is still seeking control of the AI supervillain known as The Entity. Hunt and his crew (with new and welcome additions) find themselves in an overly convoluted mission that involves tons of people talking in tons of rooms about everything we already know.

Right away, we’re thrown into a sort of montage as Hunt allows The Entity to live through his past while seeing a potential future. This montage consists of all the previous franchise installments and the trials and tribulations Ethan has been forced to combat. The Entity is shown almost in a blue hallucination of particles, which catches the eye immediately — until it’s overused. And that makes a point. Many aspects of this film are overused and the entire project suffers because of it. After seeing this early montage, we’re then told a little while later by a group of people in a room (alongside the President Of The United States played by Angela Bassett) about those exact same things. We revisit the Kremlin bombing from ‘Ghost Protocol’ to the famous wire heist sequence in the very first film 29 years ago.

Either way, Tom Cruise is still at the height of his career, and has been for the past 29 years. He proves it in this film more than ever with two enormous stunts — one in particular being the most daring of the franchise — enough to give you an anxiety attack if you’re watching it in IMAX. The maneuvers Cruise pulls off shouldn’t be humanly possible. But he’s also in what might be the best shape of his life. At 62 years old, he has a handful of shirtless scenes to showcase his beefy and impressive physique.

Cruise is the anchor… you can always count on him to deliver the goods in each film. But what about the supporting cast? Many if not all are under utilized in an almost disrespectful way. If you liked Hayley Atwell in the previous outing as the slick and charismatic Grace, you may be disappointed by her screen time and lack of things to do. Same goes for Ving Rhames and Pom Klementieff — who was a major standout in ‘Dead Reckoning,’ and captivated in every scene she was in. At least franchise veteran Simon Pegg is given plenty to do, influencing some major plot beats.

But the largest problems with ‘Dead Reckoning’ were amplified tenfold in ‘The Final Reckoning’ — look no further than Esai Morales as lackluster villain Gabriel. He, for some reason, tells Ethan every little detail about his plan and is confused when it goes awry. He didn’t have much to do in the previous epic and has even less to do in this conclusion. Gabriel is present for about ten minutes total. And what is he doing while our favorite team is trying to save the world? Who knows! This brings us to Esai Morales’ performance. Yes, the writing for his character is paper thin, but he is a serious miscast. If the villain of your movie has little to nothing to do, then make him a presence. Because every time Esai Morales speaks, all tension is zapped from the scene. What these last two Missions needed was a villainous aura compared to likes of earlier franchise baddies includes Henry Cavill as August Walker and Sean Harris as Solomon Lane. This also goes to show that AI villains like The Entity aren’t tangible unless there is a clear physical presence behind it, which Gabriel does not have.

The film has massive stunts, a lengthy runtime, a few jokes that don’t quite land as well as they could’ve, and a huge missing piece that offers a lot of spice into the movie: the electric Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis. But those who did bring that much needed zest was Tramell Tillman and Katy O’Brian. For their short but necessary screen times, it’s quite easy for them to be ruled as a highlight of this feature. For the Mission films to work, all the characters have to work. They usually do. But this was not the case for ‘The Final Reckoning.’

The story severely complicates itself through dialogue to the point of thinking you’re watching “Exposition Dump: The Movie.” Even without many high officials talking for most of the runtime, we’d still understand what was going on. Christopher McQuarrie fell into the trap of wanting to make all audiences understand ‘The Final Reckoning’ without needing to see ‘Dead Reckoning,’ in which they were supposed to be a linked two-part finale. After the decision to change the title from ‘Dead Reckoning - Part Two’ to ‘The Final Reckoning,’ McQuarrie likely felt the need to refresh our memories of the previous installment to the point of annoyance. These films were designed as two parts of the same story, and for that reason, should’ve stayed two parts. Trying to craft a second-parter into its own thing does not work.

Unfortunately for McQuarrie, the audience spends most of the time having their brains melted by needless talking and mumbo jumbo, that by the time they lock-in during Tom Cruise’s insane airplane stunt, it’s already too late.

The film is confused with itself. For that reason its a confusing watch. For audience members who love the franchise, you desperately want to love this finale. But it folds under its own pressure and has several missing components that worked for every prior Mission film. It’s proof that bigger isn’t always better.

Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey take over for Lorne Balfe as composers, but at certain times you’d believe Balfe was still behind the score. It doesn’t quite hit the heights of the thunderous tunes of ‘Fallout’ nor the slickness of ‘Dead Reckoning,’ but it gets the job done.

This is by no means a bad movie, it’s just one that feels like a first draft of something truly amazing. One thing is for certain, Tom Cruise never ceases to amaze. His dedication to his craft is to be admired.

If this truly is the final ‘Mission: Impossible,’ thank you Mr. Cruise.

‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’ releases May 23, 2025 (USA).

Our score: ★★★☆☆
(out of 5 stars)

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