Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning REVIEW: Tom Cruise’s Final Outing As Ethan Hunt Will Have Your Heart Doing Summersaults As Much As The Planes And Submarines In The Film

Film:
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis, Shea Whigham

Runtime: 169 minutes (2 hours, 49 minutes)

Platform: In Theatres

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review

The eight and final installment of he Mission: Impossible franchise – starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, has finally released and it will have you on the edge of your seat as much as Cruise will be running in the film. A direct sequel to Dead Reckoning Part One, this nearly 3-hour-long actioner sees Hunt racing to shut down the rogue AI ‘Entity’ before it causes death and destruction that can and will lead to the extinction of the human race aka “those we hold close, and those we never meet”. In order to save the world, he must infect the AI’s source code with a ‘poison pill’ created by his friend Luther (Ving Rhames).

Joining him in this impossible mission to save the world from nuclear catastrophe are former thief-now-IMF agent Grace (Hayley Atwell), IMF technical field agent Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), French assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff) and US Intelligence agent Theo Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis). But why does he needs such a talented team? Well, the mission is far from a simple upload-the-poison-and-destroy-the-AI as the source code in hundreds of feet deep in a wrecked submarine now on the floor of the Artic Ocean and the ‘poison pill’ is in the hands of the Gabriel (Esai Morales), who’s no longer the Entity’s liaison but wants to control its power.

Does Ethan Hunt succeed in saving the world one final time? What are the daring and dangerous situations he needs to face this time? And this time, will the mission demand more from him that he is willing to sacrifice? To the answers to all these questions, you need to watch Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and here’s our review of it.

What Works

Tom Cruise’s larger-than-life actioner – which has amassed a cult fandom over the years, has all the ingredients needed to make a great spy film – action, slick execution, humour, and the willingness to sacrifice all to save humanity. The manner in which the storylines are connected right from the 1996 film to the one released in 2023, is nothing short of an homage that is sure to hit the audience’s emotional cord. The film also takes its audience on a world tour with with shows stops in several stunning locations including South Africa, Norway and the American aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush.

What Doesn’t Work

There’s too much happening! With a runtime of 169 minutes, the narrative takes it sweet time to become the fast paced film series with the first hour being full of recaps, lengthy dialogues and sequences that could have reduced the runtime by at the very least 5 to 7minutes.

Acting

For 30 years Tom Cruise has brilliantly brought Ethan Hunt to live in the film franchise and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is no different. He shines in every frame – be it of him running on a treadmill underwater, on the streets of London and some other sundry surfaces in the film or swimming in the Artic water or flying a plane (or hanging out it) while in South Africa. Cruise shines in every frame irrespective if it’s of him performing (his own) stunts or delivering dialogues – the energy is the same as we saw in 1996.

Hayley Atwell as Grace is pleasant on the eyes as she not only shows off her kick*ss side while taking down the goons but also shock of being a newbie and seeing tons of blood and violence. Pom Klementieff shows just how dangerous it is to cross the never-to-be-messed with Paris as she keeps grudges and can kick the b*tts more than 2 Russians military personals simultaneously. Greg Tarzan Davis as the team’s newest addition, Theo Degas, also does justice to his role.

Returing cast members Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames deliver strong performances as Benji and Luther, highlighting just how much the team has now become a family. The other supporting cast also played their characters well – so, no complaints. However, I wish there was a little more we saw of ‘Gabriel’ Esai Morales.

Conclusion

Are you a fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise and of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt? If yes, do watch the film in theatres the first chance you get. If you aren’t a member of the M:I cult, then too watch the film to experience a world of ace filmmaking where action, acting, cinematography, sets and suspense blend perfectly well despite a couple of hiccups in the script here and there.

Watch the trailer of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning here:

Hope our Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review helps you in deciding if Tom Cruise’s final outing as Ethan Hunt is a worth a watch in theatres.

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.