When you think “Tom Cruise-led action flick”, you think big expansive locales and setpieces. The past Mission Impossible films have been exactly that: delivering on big action scenes, mixing them up with some semblance of subterfuge, and a little bit of conversation to set the context straight, with a few ties to past films. In fact, 2023’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (first of a two-parter) delivers all that and then some.

Does the supposed final Mission Impossible entry, Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, deliver the goods and act as not only an appropriate second parter, but a bookend to the franchise? For the most parts, yes.

The Hunt Is On

Let’s get the bad out of the way: the locales and sets are a little pale and dull compared to the last film, and there’s a lot more exposition going on and attempts at connecting past movies (the 1996 movie mostly) that lead to more talking head moments that belongs in a film like this. A film where our main actor Tom Cruise does all of his stunts and gives us top-notch cinematography and action setpieces like MI: Fallout’s Kashmir climax and the last movie’s train sequence. So to see the ratio of talking and second-guessing from the Impossible Mission Force runaways concerning their maverick mission (save the world from online enemy The Entity) moreso than in past films seem a bit jarring.

Thankfully, everything else about this final entry is golden. The conversations and dialogue aren’t all a ton of hot air as every character in the show oozes charisma, with deliveries filled with as much weight and gravitas. As ever, Tom Cruise brings the goods with his make-it-up-as-he-goes-along infiltrator Ethan Hunt. Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn balances his expertise, skill, and comedic timing and banter to perfection, but that’s not surprising since his debut in Mission Impossible 3. Esai Morales’ Gabriel is as menacing and as hammy as they get in the spy villain department, while Pom Klementieff’s Paris gets to shine as a former henchperson who now fights with the rogue IMF. Hayley Atwell’s Grace stands toe-to-toe as being an ex-thief learning the spy trade as she has good chemistry with Tom Cruise, a sort of mentor-mentee thing going on that’s carried from the first parter.

And of course, every Mission Impossible film cannot stand on its own without the action and spy stuff. And director Christopher McQuarry and his team delivers on all fronts, sparing no expense! The overall plot is about the rogue IMF team counterattacking AI that’s messing up all online systems worldwide, with many characters hammering home that the world can only be saved by going offline for a bit. There’s also a ton of throwback scenes involving the 1996 film and even Mission Impossible 3 (alongside others) that tie the entire film together to make this film a lot more impactful with its bookending, which longtime fans can appreciate.

Despite my earlier complaints about the duller landscape, the action is anything but, with an intense deep diving mission where Ethan has to search for the Podkova device in a submarine, a fight in some guy’s cabin that ends up on fire, Tom Cruise in a knife fight in his underwear, and a sky chase that jump cuts between a nuclear bomb disarming sequence and makeshift surgery concerning some guy’s breathing problem. If anything, these setpieces have a more personal touch and stakes attached to them when compared to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. And props to the film for giving us one of the funniest and best death scenes ever, fitting for the show’s comedy and action balancing act, as well as channelling the energy of the famous Gundam G “I’m a genius, oh no!” meme.

Not Quite Mission Difficult

Much like the famous Lalo Schifrin-composed theme song for the TV show, the ballad of Tom Cruise’s action exploits in his version of Mission Impossible is always going to stick with us. While not the strongest in terms of action (that goes to the last film and MI: Fallout), it nonetheless still hits a high bar in action espionage films in general just because it has closure, had higher stakes that are amped up from its predecessors, and ties everything up just nice and smooth.

Having said that, some homework is required -you need context from the last film Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. And some bits and pieces from the past films do help. But overall, this is one mission you should choose to accept, and enjoy with extreme enthusiasm and glee. Even if half the time it’s a juggling act between world-ending severity and moments of levity over how insane most of Ethan’s plans and improv work are. And believe me, they’re a hoot to watch when it all pans out and knowing that Tom Cruise just loves doing these shows as long as his body’s up for it.

Final Score: 80/100