In 1996, a television series from 30 years before was made into a movie. Almost 30 years after the first film, the franchise releases Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning. It was nice that they remained true to using reminders, recalls, and recaps, as I would have missed plenty of connections. My favorite is the husband portion of a couple who joins the adventure. He was one of the characters I wondered what had happened to him, and I liked the storyline choice.
As this was the eighth film in the series, the writers and directors had to stretch to avoid repeating themselves with the “major” sequences. They went down under the sea and up into the clouds. This studio was reallllllly behind this project, and the money spent shows it. The synopsis is that an AI, known as Entity, wants to end the world. Having gathered information worldwide, it is now taking control of weapons of mass destruction, only Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF team can race against the clock to save the world.
Near the start of the film, Hayley Atwell shows her ability to let the audience know what is happening with just facial expressions. This was one of the movie’s top moments, and I hoped for more of this line of humor. Simon Pegg had my other favorite moment toward the end: guiding others on what they must do while coming in and out of consciousness.
Yes, the big-moment scenes are stunning and more impressive on IMAX than they would be at home. Weigh that with the film being almost three hours long. Then add in that something about the pacing had me checking my watch nearly every 30 minutes. It was almost as if the story intentionally slowed a bit for a quick step to the facilities and then back to your seat without missing much.
Thirty years between being a TV show and being turned into a movie worked; thirty years to spread out eight movies didn’t.
*This is a trigger warning for anyone who has claustrophobia. Portions of the film take place on a submarine, and I forgot I was in a large theater with over 200 people around me.
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman and Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, with Rolf Saxon, Lucy Tulugarjuk
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for strong violence and action sequences, bloody images, and brief language.
Selig Rating: 2.5 stars
Runtime: 2h 49m
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Thriller
Movie Site: Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning website
Trailer: Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.