Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back and where we left him at the end of Dead Reckoning. He holds part of the key to defeating “The Entity” an AI that threatens to destroy all of humanity. The Entity’s human help, in the shape of Gabriel (Esai Morales), is there to stop him. Hunt’s mission, should he choose to accept it, is, as it was in Dead Reckoning, to find the Entity’s source code, poison it and destroy it. An adventure that will take him and his team across land, sea and air, in a high stakes battle for humanity’s future.

Where to start with this? It’s overly long, it has a nonsense story, a ridiculously unbelievable plot and most importantly it is a fanatically entertaining, wild rollercoaster of a film. It’s absolutely crazy and makes no sense and is brilliant for it.

This is not only how you make an action adventure, it is also the perfect example of how you should end a film franchise, it’s done at such a crazy scale, there is almost nowhere you could take it that wouldn’t feel a let down!

After it’s gentle start, this is a film that ramps up the tension and never stops, just when you think the film has taken you as far as it can, it ratchets up the stakes yet again.

It ticks all of the franchise boxes, self destructing tapes, face masks and all the crew are there with Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny as well as more recent additions includes Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and the excellent Tramell Tillman. 

Perhaps its most impressive feat is this as the 8th film and you could watch this having not seen the others and still have a blast.

The Final Reckoning, is likely the last of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible run. What can you say, it’s overly long and the plot utterly ridiculous and makes no sense, but is brilliant for it, a fantastic rollercoaster of a film. It’s big and brash, full of breathtaking stunts and finds new ways to ratchet the tension. It’s a great example of how to end a film franchise, it goes huge and enjoys every minute of doing it. It’s not perfect but it’s close and a huge slice of cinema going fun.