Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is an action movie theoretically the conclusion of the franchise, at least with Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Following the events of Dead Reckoning the super-duper AI 'The Entity' is loose and the world is in turmoil, only one man(god?) can save us!
As the years have gone by and the installments have wracked up Ethan Hunt wears a bit thin on Cruise but he's still a star and it's nice to see him in this victory lap. Many return to the franchise for a send off and, surprisingly, there is still some inspired casting with additions Tramell Tillman, Katy O'Brian, Hannah Waddingham and others. But the biggest surprise and success is the return of Rolf Saxon from the first installment, he brings incredible presence to this film and some needed continuity to the whole series.
Visually the movie is uneven, the first act is tons of exposition, tons of flashbacks to the previous installments, tons of scenes of characters telling Ethan Hunt "You're the only one that can save us." It's redundant, unnecessary, and puts a massive drag on the pacing. BUT. Once the action actually gets underway, starting when the team goes to an arctic CIA outpost and Ethan gets on a battleship, the story gets moving, there are some stunning action set pieces(no surprise) and it turns into if not a totally cogent movie at least a pretty entertaining one. There's some undertones of Scientology and maybe even societal commentary but those are pretty muddled and ultimately don't much matter.
A messy, thrilling, sometimes corny sometimes funny, end(?) to a frequently uneven but almost always interesting franchise.
Currently in theaters.
Rent It.
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