And so it all comes to an end. Quite a disappointing end.

Following the events from Dead Reckoning, Ethan Hunt finds himself as the only hope for planet Earth. The Entity, a malignant digital menace, is quickly taking control of nuclear silos everywhere, and Ethan is the only one it is afraid of. But can he complete this final impossible mission?

Director Christopher McQuarrie and stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell and others return for one final mission. Indeed, this is meant to be the last Mission: Impossible film, at least one starring (and being produced by) Cruise in the lead. After nearly thirty years of cinematic storytelling, this conclusion to 2023’s Dead Reckoning is also closing a lot more. But do they stick the landing?

Ehhhh.

I am a big supporter of the Mission: Impossible film series. They are (more or less) consistent in their entertainment value, and are spectacles with a focus on real, kinetic action. They often fly under the radar in popular culture, but each one has at least one notable sequence that really puts it above and beyond. Dead Reckoning, despite being laboured with the precedent that it was “Part One”, and it was massively long, was still immensely entertaining. But this one, Final Reckoning, has a certain clumsiness to it that was immediately off-putting.

In classic fashion, Ethan Hunt is in hiding. But he has the two parts of a unique key that holds leverage over The Entity. While the President of the United States herself is asking for his cooperation, he is still targeted by Gabriel, once an emissary to The Entity. We see the world gripped in pending destruction. Everyday people are beginning to side with The Entity; a cult of followers who believe they will be saved after the coming apocalypse.

The overarching problem with Final Reckoning for me is the size of this drama. This plot is way, way bigger than any other Mission: Impossible movie so far. While that might be okay for a final bout, it all gets a bit ridiculous. Will all of humanity end here? Gee, probably not? At least previous movies had big action for relatively contained chaos. I thought that the AI storyline would amount to something more intelligent than “world-wide extinction event”.

But the first real hurdle the film has is: Wrangle its past. A hurdle it fails spectacularly at. After a nice little talking to from Tom Cruise about the movie (similar air to Spielberg before The Fabelmans) we get a montage of past movies. All the way back to humble 1996. But the film bends over backwards to tell us how smart it is for connecting it all together. Good grief. Most of the dialogue is expositing about how something is from something else. A return of Rolf Saxon’s character from the 1996 film gets three characters confirming who he is. We get it. He’s the guy from the vault. I recognised him by the fact its the same actor. From the montage you showed earlier. Really, this is the only negative of this film, but it is so massive. It feels condescending. Sure, audiences might not have seen 1996’s movie. But you had it in a montage. You repeated dialogue. Was all that really necessary?

Unfortunately, this is the first third of the movie. A barrage of negativity. But there are good parts later on. The story even weaves in Mission: Impossible 3‘s most egregious element as a critical plot device. Which is hilarious. The writers must have padded themselves on the back for that one. Or at least J.J Abrams felt a tingle. Also, a sequence involving a submarine is extremely good. Great sense of gravity, tension, pacing. It was also eluded to in the previous movie, so it had significant weight to it. Fight choreography is a strong element as well.
All of it is commendable cinema. Cruise wants people to see big films on the big screen, and his dedication to the craft is obvious and shouldn’t be underrated.

The characters are all playing their roles well. Newest addition Hayley Atwell’s Grace feels like she’s part of the team now. Esai Morales returning as bad guy Gabriel seems to be having great fun in the role. I’m still perplexed by Simon Pegg’s Benji. The technician who didn’t know how to use a tablet in a previous film, but knows improvised wartime surgery? He’s slightly more downplayed here.
Really, the submarine section, and everything around that sequence, was top tier. Even the airplane chase, featuring heavily in the trailer, wasn’t that astounding. It is funny to see Cruise’s face get all wind-blasted.

Overall, it is a good Mission: Impossible, but there have been far better ones. Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, to name two immediately. This feels far too keen to preen itself constantly. What is it with Hollywood and their inability to end stories well?

Additional Marshmallows: Someone needs to tell Shea Whigham to stop making that one face he keeps making. I can only describe it as… “perplexed intrigue”. Usually directed over his shoulder.